Downtown parking rates will be rolled back to 2018 levels after a motion passed at Kamloops council.

Council voted 5-3 to pass the motion which will see rates dropped back down to $1.25 per hour for the first two hours and $2.50 for hour three and on.

Coun. Mike O’Reilly raised the issue, saying the increase that came in on January 1st wasn’t needed.

“The number one statement, and I’ve said it time again, parking meters are meant to move cars. And they are working. It’s not supposed to be a general tax revenue generator which is what they’re turning into now that the debts been paid off. Again, they are serving their purpose and that’s why I believe prices should be kept the same,” O’Reilly says.

“The number of parking tickets actually decreased a total of 15 per cent after the last price increase, so it’s showing that these meters are working. It’s a data-driven decision and that’s what I think this council wants to make is informed decisions. And that’s the most information we have until this parking study is released.”

City staff are currently studying downtown parking rates and their results will come out in the summer.

O’Reilly says the matter could be back at council at council after that.

“Then we can make a data-informed decision and I think that’s very crucial,” he says.

“And maybe the report’s going to come back and say we need it more expensive on Victoria Street but maybe cheaper on some other blocks where we maybe want to try and drive more traffic to help other business. Those are all good things, but we’ll have the data and information to make decisions.”

Kamloops mayor Ken Christian and councillors Sadie Hunter and Kathy Sinclair were the dissenting votes to the parking rate rollback, while councillor Arjun Singh was absent. Christian pointed out the $0.25 and $0.50 cent increases that came into effect on Jan. 1 would’ve brought in at least $125,000 dollars for the year.