Klaipeda planning to raise taxes: if approved, we will pay double from May

“A sustainable mobility plan has been approved, with instructions to reduce the number of cars. The Old Town must be configured as a cycling and pedestrian zone, the objective is to achieve the objective of taking people to the Old Town by public transport. Now there are so many cars that, for example, the fifteen cent fee in the blue zone is definitely not a prevention against parking a car, ”says Rimantas Mockus, Head of the Department of Transportation of the Municipality of Klaipėda.

As soon as the changes to the toll zones were considered, it was not yet decided when they should take effect. And Klaipeda officials are increasingly inclined to delay for a long time and increase parking fees as early as this spring.

“Starting from May 1, we would suggest changing the dislocation of the color design in Melnrage, where there is a green zone, and where it costs 30 ct, to make a yellow zone – it would cost 60 ct, and on the Giruliai highway, where there are new Sites are installed, to turn them into a green zone and leave the same rate. On Audros Street, right next to the pier, where there is a certain chaos at night, we offer to do the most expensive thing: the red zone, “says R. Mockus.

Red zone fees have been proposed to be levied until 10pm everywhere without exception starting in May, although currently the longest tax collection time is planned in only part of the old town.

Klaipeda Municipality representatives propose to increase taxes on the basis that no other city has such prices. The third largest city is said to be far behind the prices of the capital and Kaunas, although during the warm season there is a really large car traffic on the coast.

“Even if the price of the red zone were raised, it would be the lowest compared to Vilnius and Kaunas,” says R. Mockus.

According to R. Mockus, if the proposals are accepted, an additional 250 thousand euros would be added to this year, in addition to the two million euros of parking fees collected per year. However, this is not the first time that the changes submitted for consideration have again stalled.

Councilor Lina Skrupskelienė was interested, maybe someone was calculating whether the tax increase would help reduce air pollution. Mr. Mockus assured that he did not have precise calculations. Only environmentalists follow the decrease or increase in air pollution.

Tomas Meškinis, president of the Vite community, says residents view taxes differently. Some argue that this will make cars a luxury for locals – not everyone will be able to pay additional taxes, others hope that taxes will help manage car flows. However, the general opinion of the people is that we first have to tidy up the yards, the bike and pedestrian paths, and then we have to talk about raising taxes. People also suggest that officials think about free public transportation for locals, which is said to encourage at least some people to stop using private cars.

Long-term plans for an underground car park were also discussed at a meeting of the Urban Economy and Environment Committee. According to the head of the municipal administration, Gintaras Neniškis, part of the toll increase would be converted into an investment in the planned improvement of the infrastructure in the future.