Dime buys the city long-term sustainability

Ten cents. A dime. Two nickels. In today's world, where the penny has been discontinued from production, what can a dime actually buy you?

It turns out, in the city of Birmingham, it has the potential to purchase $420,000 worth of actions to protect the city's beautiful natural resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors.

That's an amazing value for 10 cents.

Yet the Birmingham City Commission isn't as certain, as they continue to mull a proposal to add a 10-cent sustainability fee on parking transactions in the city. The nominal added fee, if approved, would be added to hourly street parking meters, monthly parking permits used by businesses and their employees who work in the city, parking structure transactions and valet parking – but not to two-hour free parking. In exchange for a total of 10 cents per transaction, Birmingham Planning Director Nick DuPuis recently presented to the city commission a first-year draft program which would benefit from the parking fee by approximately $420,000 annually and would cost a total of $371,000. It would include a $100,000 update to the city’s multimodal transportation plan; $4,000 for eight air-quality sensors; $100,000 toward fall tree planting; funding for rain gardens along West Merrill; and electric vehicle chargers at city hall.

At the July 27 city commission meeting, commissioners split their support, 3-3, over approving the proposed sustainability parking fee.

After careful study, we perceive only upsides to the proposal, and urge the commissioners to not make a mountain over a tiny 10-cent molehill, as was done over years-long debates to choose the city's official color (evergreen) and to change the city's logo. This is a worthwhile cause that will barely register a ripple to those who visit the city's downtown. And contrary to commissioner Bill Kolb's allegation that residents will be stuck with the burden of paying the surcharge, this is a user tax, meaning that only those who use parking will pay for it – whether they are residents, visitors or businesses. Keeping it green, those who generate carbon pollution via their vehicles will be ones minimally taxed.

For the city, managing the revenue will be simple as funds would remain separate from the parking system funds, and placed in accounts overseen by the treasury and finance departments.

The true beneficiary? The city's sustainability committee, which has been primarily a 'think tank' rather than an actionable committee since its inception. In 2024, the committee created and adopted The Birmingham Green: Healthy Climate Plan is the city’s roadmap for advancing sustainability, resilience, and climate action across municipal operations and the broader community. The plan outlines measurable actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect natural resources, and improve quality of life, with a long-term goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

However, the city has not been able to fund it, making the plans merely ideas. The 10-cent parking sustainability fee allows the sustainability committee to turn words into actions. And parking is always in demand in Birmingham, so we are assured that the nominal amount will be unlikely to deter anyone from visiting the city.

We look at it as a minimal and wise investment in the city's future.