Come 1 August this year, teachers will have monthly season parking rates if they want to park their cars or motorcycles at their school car parks.
This was confirmed by the Ministry of Education earlier today.
And, a 2015 red flag by the Auditor-General’s Office might have played a part in teachers having to fork out more out-of-pocket cash.
In 2015, the AGO highlighted in its annual report that not imposing parking charges, or charging below market rate for the use of school carparks is the equivalent of providing hidden subsidies for vehicle parking (in other words, there’s no free lunch lah, teachers).
Following that, the MOE said that it was working with the Public Service Division and Ministry of Finance to “determine an appropriate treatment for staff parking in schools”.
And there we have it today – S$100 a month for parking cars in covered lots during school terms, and S$20 per month during the school holidays
Or, S$960 per year.
For unsheltered lots, the cost of season parking is S$75 per month during school terms and S$15 a month during school holidays.
As for motorcycles, it’s S$123 per year for parking in uncovered lots, and S$135 a year for parking in covered lots.
Explaining the charges, the Education Ministry said:
“It has become increasingly clear that the current treatment of allowing school staff to park for free constitutes a taxable benefit, as the vast majority of school car parks are located near chargeable car parks and the car parks are intended for the use of staff and authorised visitors, with no access given to the general public.”
MOE said that it determined parking rates from the annual market value of school carparks, in line with the HDB’s Tier 2 season parking rates for non-residents.
MOE said it also considered inputs from a professional and that it is implementing the changes from 1 August to “provide sufficient time for schools to finalise the implementation details and for MOE to engage teachers and school staff to address their queries before implementation begins”.
In other words it’s now or never, teachers, if you want to cow beh cow bu about the new parking fee!
