Meeting: Tuesday, June 25th, Council Agenda Item 14A (attachment B)
Support item 14A: Parking Facilities Tax Measure

Santa Monica Spoke and the Santa Monica Safe Street Alliance request your help in support of placing a measure on the November ballot that – if approved – would help fund safer streets in Santa Monica. The measure is an increase in the parking facilities tax that would allocate steady funding for programs and infrastructure projects to build safer streets in Santa Monica for everyone.   

Join us to email the council to approve placing a parking facilities tax measure on the November ballot that if approved by the voters would increase the Santa Monica parking facility tax by 8%, only applied to private lots. 

As Santa Monica strives toward economic recovery, budget shortfalls have hindered the City’s ability to expand services to levels that meet the community’s needs and expectations. The leading cause of death for our children in LA County is motor vehicle crashes. Let’s make sure we are funding safer street projects. 

This measure would generate around $7 million annually for our community to help fund safe street programs and infrastructure. This increase will not affect costs in city-owned parking lots downtown or at the beach. The tax increase would impact people using overnight parking or utilizing private parking facilities. 

Not since 1995 – almost 30 years ago – has our local parking facility tax been updated. Santa Monica’s values and norms lead with sustainability and climate actions as we steadily work to meet our climate goals. Over 2/3 of our city’s emissions stem from transportation, particularly motor vehicles. It is critical to stop subsidizing and incentivizing car trips.

Join us today and add your voice to help strengthen the community’s call for a fair increase of the parking facility tax to help fund safer streets. This measure could have a significant and positive impact on improving street safety. Let the Santa Monica City Council know that a healthier and more equitable future requires us to act today with creative solutions like this ballot measure to increase the parking facility tax by 8% –
let’s support putting it to a vote in November!

One Click email to Council:  Please do add your comments and personal stories if you can!

Or use/personalize this “copy and paste / template” below:

Send emails to:
To: councilmtgitems@santamonica.gov, council@smgov.net
gleam.davis@santamonica.gov, jesse.zwick@santamonica.gov, Caroline.Torosis@santamonica.gov, lana.negrete@santamonica.gov, oscar.delatorre@santamonica.gov, phil.brock@santamonica.gov, christine.parra@santamonica.gov
cc: david.white@santamonica.gov, Anuj.Gupta@santamonica.gov
bcc: info@smspoke.org

Subject: Support item 14A: Parking Facilities Tax Measure

Dear Santa Monica City Council Members: 

Please support item 14A (attachment B) that places a measure on the November ballot that would help fund safer streets in Santa Monica.

It is time for us to get more serious about reducing incentives to drive and make sure motor vehicle drivers contribute to funding safe streets for everyone.

The leading cause of death for our children in LA County is motor vehicle crashes. Over 2/3 of our city’s emissions stem from transportation, particularly motor vehicle use. To achieve a cleaner and safer Santa Monica, it is critical to stop subsidizing and incentivizing car trips. As Santa Monica recovers economically – this measure can create a critical step towards achieving our adopted climate goals and improve safety for everyone who lives in and visits our city regardless of how they travel. It’s been nearly 30 years since parking fees were updated.  Let’s do this now!

We will never meet our goals to reduce car trips if we continue to subsidize parking that only encourages driving. This measure allocates funding for programs and infrastructure projects aimed at creating a safer, more environmentally sustainable, and joyous Santa Monica for everyone

Please vote to approve placing this Parking Facilities Tax Measure on the November ballot and give Santa Monica residents the opportunity to vote on this important measure.

Please support item 14A, Attachment B, Parking Facilities Tax Measure