The Butler County Chamber of Commerce is urging city officials to build a parking garage as part of the Centre City project.

Chamber Chairman Brian McCafferty sent a letter to Mayor Tom Donaldson, members of city council and members of the city parking authority requesting a garage join the proposed Marriott Springhill Suites hotel and Rite Aid pharmacy under construction on Main Street.

The chamber included in the letter four financial scenarios it said prove the garage could support itself.

While the parking authority said the garage would carry a financial loss that only could be filled through citywide parking rate increases, the chamber said the garage can be profitable.

The chamber calculated that a $4.5 million bond, combined with an existing $1.35 million bond the authority already has could carry an annual debt service of about $386,000. That figure is about a $175,000 increase on the authority’s existing $211,000 debt service.

The chamber recommended charging the hotel to guarantee 30 spaces per day at a rate of $6 per space, bringing $64,800 in income. It would leave about $110,000 to recover through the remaining 195 spaces in the garage.

The chamber estimated if the garage is 60 percent full, it would generate about $190,000 in annual revenue with a rate of $4.50 per space per day — the average revenue from parking spaces in the city.

Even with $15,000 in maintenance on the garage, the chamber estimates the garage could bring in $64,000 per year from that scenario.

The original development plan called for a 225-spot parking garage. The parking authority more recently shifted thinking to favor a 75-spot surface lot.

“We feel that Butler City Council and the Parking Authority of the City of Butler should revisit the decision to change course and approve a surface lot in light of these facts,” the letter said.

The chamber provided three other scenarios with different tax exemption statuses of the bond issue and a 50 percent occupancy rate of the garage, and found the authority still would receive at least $6,500 per year from the structure.

Parking authority treasurer Jeff Smith said the calculations used by the chamber, which were prepared by the city redevelopment authority, are inaccurate.

Smith said the calculations in projecting income did not make sense.

He said the authority couldn’t make $4.50 per day per space because parkers simply would buy a $50 monthly permit instead.

“Maybe if we doubled the price of our permits those numbers would add up,” he said.

Smith said $4.50 per day for 30 days, as presented by the chamber, would cost a parker $135 per month. Even if a parker only paid for parking on weekdays, it would still cost about $95 per month.

“No one would pay that,” Smith said.

Smith said using the chamber’s calculations with a $50 per month permit cap would result in a loss of $60,000 to $90,000 per year.

The parking authority estimated at its Sept. 24 meeting the parking garage would carry with it a more than $100,000 per year deficit.

It calculated that number by assuming a 50 percent occupancy rate in the garage. Smith cited a rate of $6 per night for 75 hotel guests and $50 monthly permits for the remaining 150 parking spaces.

Smith said two of the four proposals presented by the chamber also use a 100 percent tax exempt status for the garage, which would not occur because some of the spaces are for private use.

Another problem, Smith said, is the calculations have the hotel guaranteeing payment for 30 spaces, but the authority would still need to reserve 75 spaces for hotel guests, per city code.

Stan Kosciuszko, president of the chamber, said the numbers the redevelopment authority used are feasible through a combination of metered parking and parking permits.

Kosciuszko said the chamber is speaking out in support of the garage because of its members in the city, but said it is not trying to oppose city officials.

“We represent businesses and a lot of our members are downtown,” Kosciuszko said.

Kosciuszko said the chamber is a big supporter of the Butler Downtown group, which is leading the petition for a parking garage.

“Strength downtown is crucial to county development,” he said.

Kosciuszko said sending a letter to officials is not something his group does often.

“We historically do not come out unless it is crucial to our overall membership and the county,” he said. “They need to know they are taking away too many spaces downtown.”

The chamber cited a 2008 countywide survey by an independent consultant as evidence of a need of parking downtown.

“When asked what the No. 1 priority should be for the Butler County Area, respondents overwhelmingly chose the revitalization of Downtown Butler,” the letter said. “More specifically they referenced the need for more parking downtown.”

The chamber said it has solicited and received commitments from downtown property owners and businesses that will renew leased spaces in a tier garage.

“This significantly impacts the profitability of the investment in our community,” the letter said. “Our Chamber of Commerce encourages you to consider strengthening our existing base, enhancing the productivity of our downtown corridor and being a positive force as an optimistic look toward your legacy for the City of Butler.”