What's New in Taos? Parking Kiosks

On  Monday, June 10, the Town of Taos kicked off its new "pay-to-park" system in downtown areas. The system includes a complex array of requirements for visitors, businesses, and events parking.

According to the town, the new system—namely a number of solar-powered parking kiosks—ends "decades of frustration with broken and rusty coin-operated meters and start[s] to invest in the future of parking for Taos."

The old parking meters cost 50 cents per hour. The new rate is $2 per hour, and that doesn't include a 75-cent credit card fee. The kiosks are being touted as a way to better collect parking fees and allow for easier enforcement.

“The goal with this new pay-to-park system is to invest in infrastructure and upgrade the dirt lots, broken sidewalks, and general walkability issues,” said Community Relations Director John Rodriguez in a Town press release. “Taos has to move past locals subsidizing parking for visitors. This is about getting back to basics and not having Taos taxpayers on the hook for others.”

However, many locals aren't so sure.

At a town council workshop on June 10, community members asked town officials hard questions about the new parking system. Some asked abut the cost of maintaining the kiosks, some asked about where employees could park, while others suggested there wasn't enough communication with members of the public.

Councilwoman Genevieve Oswald said free parking will still be available at Kit Carson Park, the Taos Public Library, and at Town Hall. However, during special events the lots will require a fee.

According to the Town, by the end of 2024, the kiosks are expected to generate roughly $226,000 for the town.

In fiscal year 23–24, with only twenty-five percent of the meters working, the town’s income from fees and fines was only $42,406 creating a need to supplement funding to cover the steep lease for the various parking lots located within the Historic District.

Perhaps the best thing about the new system is the simple fact that the Town is looking at the system as an experiment in the early stages.

“The only way to test this is to put this live and start to work on issues we encounter,” said Rodriguez. “This is a complex internal system, and until we see how the public interacts with it, we won’t know what issues there are. We need the public to put it through its paces.”

The parking situation is just one of many issues as Taos is going through some serious growth issues.