WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Paid parking and a new sales tax proposal were the focus of a Wednesday morning meeting in Old Town, as business owners consider a push to keep paid parking out of the area.
The meeting was hosted by City Council Member Maggie Ballard and held at Pumphouse. The big idea on the table is to create a community improvement district, or CID, that would add a 2% sales tax in the area, instead of adding paid parking kiosks.
This isn’t the first time the plan has come up. A similar petition was rejected earlier this year when the city council chose not to set a public hearing.
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Now, business owners are gearing up to try again. Paul Banks, who attended the meeting with Knolla’s pizza restaurant, said he still has a lot of questions and wants to see more details before signing on.
“We’ve gotten a lot of blowback so far over downtown parking, and we just want to make sure that it’s fair and no one is going out of business or is going to be affected by this in a negative way,” said Banks.
If the plan to add the sales tax is approved, it is likely to start in 2026.
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