Paid parking DND property

[Navy_Blue]

I've seen a document floating around the office suggesting that forces wide our parking is being looked at and may soon become pay parking.  They are planing to set the price for fair market value.  So say in Halifax around 88$ per month.  Is anyone else hearing this and do you think its just bureaucratic rumbling or is it for sure?

 

[PO2FinClk]

Not exactly sure what you are referring to. Parking in PMQ's, parking at work, parking for DND vehicles (currently covered under the NDA)...

Please amplify as I cannot determine what parking you are referring to.

 

[geo]

no talk of that in my area..... LFQA

 

[Navy_Blue]

People with time in will soon be expected to pay for parking in the dock yard in Halifax.  I expect on base too.  I think it was a DAOD (not sure on the acronym)??  IT stated it was going to be forces wide.  Today my PO mentioned there was now a CFAO on it too??  Just wondering if anyone else has been hearing the same.

 

[aesop081]

  Today my PO mentioned there was now a CFAO on it too?? 

Doubt that......all CFAOs are being replaced by DAODs as soon as they are superceeded so no new ones are coming out

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

this is an idea that has been kicking around for a while. the last time it surfaced here it was Revenue Canada and the Treasury Board that were pursuing it. At the moment if you park on base in Halifax you are in effect recieving a tax free benefit because if you worked a few blocks away in downtown Halifax you would be paying for parking.  If you work in the Nation's capital (that's Ottawa for all you folks in Quebec city..not Quebec City as the signs leading into your fair city suggest) then you have to pay if you park downtown. Let's say that priviledge would cost you to the tune of $800 a year in Halifax. Once again we are victims of a system that sees us as glorified public servants. Remember a few years ago when they nailed the cooks for their "free lunchs?' Well it's all part of the same thinking. I was briefed on this last year by my boss...the Formation Admin O (equivalent of G1 in the Army), he said at the time that we probably wouldn't be able to put off the bean counters for ever.

 

[PO2FinClk]

They could only do this if adequate public transportation were available, meaning other places which do not have public transport within teh vicinity of the work area could not be charged in this fashion. Examples would be Comox or Borden for instance.

Assuming this goes through, are they now also going to charge parking for PMQ residents? This sounds to me like a can of worms which could prove tedious, if not difficult, to manage.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Assuming this goes through, are they now also going to charge parking for PMQ residents? This sounds to me like a can of worms which could prove tedious, if not difficult, to manage.

They already do.  Just like any other rental property, the driveway (or a specified parking spot) is included in the rental charge and there is an additional charge if a garage is rented.

 

[392]

...and there is an additional charge if a garage is rented.

Not here in Pet or in Gagetown  Garages don't cost anything extra up and above the cost of the Q. Now I'm not too sure of the garage rows here, I've heard inklings of $50 / month or so, but I'm lucky enough to have one with my Q, so I don't know for sure. Now, if housing would only repair the damn leaky / rotten roof on it, I would be happy 

 

[armyvern]

Not here in Pet or in Gagetown  Garages don't cost anything extra up and above the cost of the Q. Now I'm not too sure of the garage rows here, I've heard inklings of $50 / month or so, but I'm lucky enough to have one with my Q, so I don't know for sure. Now, if housing would only repair the damn leaky / rotten roof on it, I would be happy 

Hmmm. I had two Cpls working for in Clothing Stores in Gagetown last year who both lived in single story and 1/2s. I recall a discussion between them one day where they determined the one with the garage at the end of his driveway (they both lived on Saint John Ave) was paying more per month for his Q. I don't recall the difference in cost, but there was indeed a difference.

 

[392]

When I lived in Gagetown ('02 - '05), I asked CFHA specifically if Q's w/ garages were more, and they said "No".

Did they both move in at the same time? I know when I left G'town in 2005, what I was paying for rent (single 2 bdrm bungalow on Laurier) didn't match the current (at the time) listed prices at CFHA due to me still paying what the listed value was when I moved in in 2002, plus the rent increases or about $20 total, whereas the prices of empty Q's had gone up due to the "fair market price" or however you want to call it. So if your two Cpl's moved in a year apart, or even a few months apart (depending on when the price increases went into effect that FY), they would probably be paying different rent. Does that make sense? I'm no financial expert, but that is what makes the most sense to me. Of course, maybe they changed their policies after I was posted out....

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

They could only do this if adequate public transportation were available, meaning other places which do not have public transport within teh vicinity of the work area could not be charged in this fashion. Examples would be Comox or Borden for instance.

Assuming this goes through, are they now also going to charge parking for PMQ residents? This sounds to me like a can of worms which could prove tedious, if not difficult, to manage.

Well they've never shyed away from opening cans of worms before. I think the concept of "adequate" public transport will be difficult to define. If it's a case of "is there public transport; yes or no" that's probably what they would look at. To take a bus from my house it would take me 45 mins to get to work vice a 15 minute drive...it is possible it's just not very quick. In the case of some jobs, like mine where I may have to go and visit someone in Qs at Shearwater or go and make a notification in the boon docks they may have to allow me to claim back the parking expenses.
Don't you have to be a full Colonel in order to get a parking space at 101 Colonel By? and is it a freebie or do you get docked on your pay for parking?

 

[TN2IC]

Well they've never shyed away from opening cans of worms before. I think the concept of "adequate" public transport will be difficult to define. If it's a case of "is there public transport; yes or no" that's probably what they would look at. To take a bus from my house it would take me 45 mins to get to work vice a 15 minute drive...it is possible it's just not very quick. In the case of some jobs, like mine where I may have to go and visit someone in Qs at Shearwater or go and make a notification in the boon docks they may have to allow me to claim back the parking expenses.
Don't you have to be a full Colonel in order to get a parking space at 101 Colonel By? and is it a freebie or do you get docked on your pay for parking?

Imagin the ships have to pay for docking? Or our trucks at work? Hehehehe...

 

[Greymatters]

It wouldnt surprise me - it seems to be the trend everywhere these days. 

 

[old medic]

Exemption from Tolls

Duties or tolls on roads, bridges, etc.

261. (1) No duties or tolls, otherwise payable by law in respect of the use of any pier, wharf, quay, landing-place, highway, road, right-of-way, bridge or canal, shall be paid by or demanded from any unit or other element of the Canadian Forces or any officer or non-commissioned member when on duty or any person under escort or in respect of the movement of any materiel, except that the Minister may authorize payment of duties and tolls in respect of that use.

Exception
(2) Nothing in this section affects the liability for payment of duties or tolls lawfully demandable in respect of any vehicles or vessels other than those belonging to or in the service of Her Majesty.

R.S., 1985, c. N-5, s. 261; R.S., 1985, c. 31 (1st Supp.), s. 60.

 

[Greymatters]

I believe that applies only to military vehicles (and vehicles rented/leased by the military), not to privately-owned vehicles of military personnel.

 

[old medic]

Correct.

That was in reply to the

Imagin the ships have to pay for docking

post

 

[Neill McKay]

this is an idea that has been kicking around for a while. the last time it surfaced here it was Revenue Canada and the Treasury Board that were pursuing it. At the moment if you park on base in Halifax you are in effect recieving a tax free benefit because if you worked a few blocks away in downtown Halifax you would be paying for parking.

Understood, but free parking is a pretty standard benefit to provide one's employees.  In fact, I'd suggest that just about every employer that owns a parking lot allows its employees to park free of charge.  If parking is now to be considered a taxable benefit then I suspect a very large part of the working population of Canada would be affected.  Since this group happens to coincide with the voting population of Canada, I'm not too worried about this.

I'd suggest that until someone sees, with his or her own eyes, something official on this then it sounds like a rumour, and not the most plausible one at that.

 

[Greymatters]

On the contrary, free parking is only a benefit for company's who are located in low density areas, are located in industrial areas, or own their own parking property.  Some companies offer to pay for parking of their employees (especially as an executive perk) but it isnt standard among most employers who are comprised of micro to small businesses (less than 50 employees).  This trend is changing i.e. most hospitals and universities (usually employing over 1,000 employees) have turned their parking spaces over to outsourced parking lot maintainers who immediately installed parking meters and conduct minimal maintenance services.  The maintainers rake in a load of cash as their only real expense is moving snow in the winter, but the company saves a load of cash by having less employees to support. 

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

On the contrary, free parking is only a benefit for company's who are located in low density areas, are located in industrial areas, or own their own parking property.   Some companies offer to pay for parking of their employees (especially as an executive perk) but it isnt standard among most employers who are comprised of micro to small businesses (less than 50 employees).  This trend is changing i.e. most hospitals and universities (usually employing over 1,000 employees) have turned their parking spaces over to outsourced parking lot maintainers who immediately installed parking meters and conduct minimal maintenance services.  The maintainers rake in a load of cash as their only real expense is moving snow in the winter, but the company saves a load of cash by having less employees to support.   

Quite right, my wife pays $2 a day for the priviledge of parking at the Dartmouth General Hospital where she goes in to save people's lives. When we were in Victoria it was $5 a day at the Vic General if I remember rightly.