By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(April 30, 2026) The Town of Berlin is pursuing the possibility of paying for parking improvements in public and quasi-public lots with a slice of  local room tax revenue.

At the Town Council meeting Monday, council members approved a proposal by Councilman Jack Orris that will allocate 10% of the town’s room tax revenue to parking-related expenses, with the remaining 90% directed to the general fund.

The plan reflects conversations held during last week’s budget work session, where officials revisited how to best use increased hotel tax revenue.

Last year, Worcester County agreed to allow municipalities to charge up to 6% in tax (up from 5%) on short-term rentals of four months or less. That action went into effect on January 1.

Now, Berlin leaders have found a way to distribute the additional revenue in a way that’s beneficial for the town’s finances.

This week, the council approved to allocate some of the room tax revenue to parking lot repairs. The municipality has reported for some time that they need $1 million for infrastructure work at public lots and privately owned lots used by the public.

“This is reflective of the discussion at the budget work session,” explained Town Administrator Mary Bohlen Monday night. “Based on the increase in the room tax percentage, we are allocating 10% of the total revenue to parking.”

Mayor Zack Tyndall asked whether the change would create a dedicated parking fund. Finance Director Natalie Saleh clarified that the allocation would instead appear as a separate line item in the budget, rather than a formal fund, which would require additional administrative costs and staffing.

“At the end of the fiscal year, we will take 10% from room tax and set it aside,” she said. “We are going to open a new savings account in the bank, but it is not a fund.”

Councilman Jay Knerr asked why a formal fund was not being established, but Saleh maintained that the money would still be tracked.

Councilman Steve Green described the move as a “baby step” toward addressing long-standing parking and infrastructure needs. He noted that previous discussions about implementing paid parking met resistance from local business owners.

“We had half a dozen or so meetings with businesses where paid parking was floated as an opportunity to try to fund some of the repairs that were needed in our infrastructure at public lots and quasi-public lots that are used publicly but privately owned,” he said.

“We were not getting anywhere with paid parking. It scared a lot of business owners. Some of us feel like it’s needed, but this is just setting aside an opportunity for tourism to pay for tourism. It’s going to take us quite a while for it to matter … we have $1 million of expenses. But it’s something, it’s a start.”

The Town Council agreed to establish the new parking line item at its meeting this week.