I am a property taxpayer in the community that seldom comes into the downtown. Why should I care about this issue at all?

After several years of discussions about parking in the downtown, it is hopeful that everyone understands what ”free parking” means. Given that the City has very limited resources, free means a portion of your property tax bill pays for others to park for free. There is growing pressure to create more parking in the downtown. Unchanged, it will be your property taxes that will be used to pay for it. Ironically, a lot of the long-term employees that park for free are not Biddeford residents. The same can be said about the landlords that own the apartments and apartment buildings that do not provide parking for their tenants. Without changing the system, you pay for their parking needs. With this change, when you do come downtown to enjoy the businesses, there will be more no-charge, short-term parking available. Finally, having more public parking constructed in the downtown will continue to allow the downtown to change from what it was 10 to 15 years ago to the path that it is on now. The growth in the downtown has had a positive impact on your personal property tax burden and ensuring an opportunity for continued growth is expected to continue the trend.

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1. Why is the City dealing with parking changes anyways?
2. Where is the parking demand coming from?
3. Now that I have an understanding of the reasons why the City is dealing with the parking issue, can you explain to me what goals are driving these changes?
4. Please explain how the parking program achieves these goals?
5. How are changes in the downtown impacting the general property taxes in the community?
6. How is the increased demand for parking impacting the downtown?
7. I am a property taxpayer in the community that seldom comes into the downtown. Why should I care about this issue at all?
8. How will these parking changes affect my taxes?