City Employees To Pay To Park At Work?

If you ask El Paso city Rep. Dr. Mike Noe, asking city employees to pay for parking is a “fair thing to do.”

Noe told ABC-7 that right now, all Sun City taxpayers are paying for parking lots rented by the city for employee use.

“The cost is substantial,” he said. “It adds up.”

City Rep. Steve Ortega said the city is spending $30,000 a year for one lot in particular, across the street from the downtown municipal court, along San Antonio Avenue.

“We’ve been paying that for the last 20 years,” Ortega said.

Ortega added that he hopes city officials can work around parking fees for employees by having workers park alongside streets already owned by the city.

But Noe said that asking those who use the lots to pay a nominal fee should not be ruled out.

“Nobody wants to pay for anything,” Noe said. “What I say to those (opposed) is, I’m sorry, but you are already paying for it through tax dollars and so is everybody else.”

One employee outside City Hall Thursday said any fee would be a “burden.”

“We have to have a space to park,” she told ABC-7.

Noe said no employee would be forced to pay anything, since the city offers all of its employees free rides on Sun Metro buses.

“If you don’t want to park, you can take the bus here and not pay for gas, maintenance on your car, parking, or anything,” he said.

During a recent city budget hearing, El Paso City Manager Joyce Wilson told City Council she hasn’t recommended parking fees because similar initiatives in the past have always failed a vote.