Biz permit for pay-parking operators

All establishments in Cebu City will soon be required to secure separate business permit for the operation of their parking spaces.

That is if Mayor Tomas Osmeña will sign and approve the new ordinance of the City Council which was passed last March 6.

“The operation of establishments or lots for parking purposes is a separate trade or commercial activity from the business conducted in the establishments or buildings for whose customers or clients the parking lots or areas are intended,” reads a portion of the measure penned by Councilor David Tumulak.

Tumulak said majority of the buildings are now charging parking fees against their workers, clients, and customers.

He said these buildings have been collecting parking fees, and therefore need to secure a separate business permit.

He said the measure will aid the city government in regulating establishments that are charging excessive parking lot fees.

“It is recognized that property owners may exercise any and all incidents of ownership, such as right to the fruits thereof,” he said.

Tumulak cited Section 143 (e) of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code, which states that local government units may impose taxes on contractors such as the “proprietors or operators of establishments or lots for parking purposes.”

His ordinance amended the existing City Tax Ordinance No. LXIX which is silent on the requirement of the establishments need to secure a separate business permit from the main operation of the business.

“It has now become the common practice of establishments to collect parking fees, thus the need to reiterate that a separate license or permit for different kinds of business has to be secured even though all business, trade, occupation or calling are conducted in one establishment only,” he said.

He said the complaints of the car owners led him to push for the measure because of the reported imposition of excessive parking rates in the city.

He said there’s an existing City Ordinance No. 2089 or the Ordinance Setting Standards for the Operation of Privatelyowned Off-street Pay Parking Areas in the city.

Under the ordinance, establishments should charge P20 for the first three hours and P5 for the succeeding hour.

But Tumulak said there are pay-parking operators whose fees range from P10 per hour to P50 for the first three hours.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña already expressed his support to the measure, saying this will ensure that these establishments are paying the right taxes.