WILKES-BARRE -- The Stegmaier building in Wilkes-Barre is a public building and houses several federal government offices, including Social Security. Hundreds of people come to the building daily for services, but soon they will have to pay to park.
"I worked 45 years for my life. I fought for my country and everything, and it seems like they take off of you whatever they could," said Ed Behrmann of Larksville.
KMS Development co-owns the federal building. They wouldn't talk on camera but over the phone said they're still deciding how much to charge. Some workers believe it'll be $5.
"People are coming from quite a distance just to come here to take care of business and a lot of people don't have $5 just to throw away for parking," said David Conahan Wilkes-Barre.
Tens of millions of tax dollars helped renovate the building in the mid-1990s. Now, people wonder why they should be paying even more.
Officials with the building argue it takes a lot of money to maintain the 400-space parking lot, but they're also going to charge a flat fee, no matter if you've been here for just a couple minutes or a couple hours.
"A person may come in for 5 or 10 minutes and has to pay $5, that's New York City rates!" said Seymour Holtzman, a developer based in Wilkes-Barre.
He owns the Jewelcor office building and parking lot just across the street from the federal building. He says maintaining a parking lot is like making sure the lights in the building are on.
"That's just part of running an office building," he said.
The developer expects to start charging in a couple weeks.
