City considers sustainability fee on parking

By Grace Lovins

Parkers in Birmingham may experience a small fee in the future as city commissioners took up discussions during the Monday, July 13, meeting, on a proposed 10 cent sustainability fee on parking transactions within the city’s parking system to generate funding for projects to offset vehicle-related carbon emissions.

Planning director Nick Dupuis explained the proposed fee is intended to provide a consistent funding source for some of the goals outlined in the Birmingham Green: Healthy Climate Plan. He said one of the goals in the plan is addressing the 25 percent of the city’s total carbon emissions that come from vehicles.

The city receives about 7 million visits annually, Dupuis said, and approximately 2.5 million parking transactions were recorded in 2025. This creates an opportunity to spread the cost of mitigation efforts among all who drive and park in the city.

Hourly meter parking, monthly meter and parking structure permits, paid parking structure visits and valet parking in city-owned structures would all be subject to the 10 cent fee. Dupuis also confirmed that the current two-hour free parking would remain two-hour free parking. Those with monthly parking passes would be charged a $3 sustainability fee per month.

Dupuis said the revenue would be used specifically to offset the percentage of carbon emissions generated by vehicles, noting the fee is just one piece of the city’s overall sustainability puzzle. He said potential projects that could be supported by the funding include installation of electric vehicle chargers, tree planting, green infrastructure and air-quality monitoring.

Some commissioners raised questions about the equity of imposing a fee on city residents who are driving in the city, which Dupuis argued made the proposal equitable to everyone. Generating the funding through a fee meant that only the money would not be coming from the city’s general fund, so the burden would be proportional to all drivers contributing to the mitigation efforts of vehicle-related carbon emissions.

Questions were also raised about the measurable results of implementing the fee. Ultimately, the commission directed Dupuis to return at a future meeting with a more flushed out list of anticipated projects for the year along with defined metrics and goals for the projects that would demonstrate how the fee is helping offset carbon emissions.

The commission did not take formal action on the item but will be taking up discussions again at a future meeting.