A move by Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones to find money to pay for a handful of popular parades in the city is drawing fire from critics and is being called unconstitutional by the same attorney who succeeded in killing the city’s parking surcharge almost a decade ago.

After years of haphazard budgeting for the popular Three Kings parade in Little Havana and the Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Liberty City, among others, Spence-Jones is pushing a bill that would add a $1 surcharge to tickets to events at city-owned facilities like the Bayfront Park Amphitheater, James L. Knight Center and Coconut Grove Exhibition Center.

City leaders appear set for a final vote Thursday on the measure, which would earmark the new surcharge money for parades.

Spence-Jones says the surtax is needed to come up with a dedicated funding source for parades important to the community. But opponents say her plan overburdens consumers already paying high ticket prices.

“This is not the way to go,” said Nathan Kurland, a critic who is a member of the Bayfront Park Trust, and is concerned the added fee could scare away the customer base the trust has built that enables it to operate independently from the city.

The plan to add $1 to already existing surcharges would mean tickets costing up to $14.99 would have a surcharge of $1.75; tickets costing between $15 and $29.99 would add $2; and tickets valued at $30 or more would have a surcharge of $3.

Opponents also charge that the surcharge is unconstitutional.

State statute prohibits a municipality from adding a ticket surcharge unless the funds go toward operating the facility that is charging it, or if it is used to pay down a debt there.

Miami has been down this road before — and it didn’t end well.

In 1999, in the wake of the city’s last financial crisis, city leaders passed a 20 percent parking surcharge that three years later was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court because it only benefitted Miami. The city was forced to refund $14 million — a “painstaking” task that took a long time, said Thomas J. Korge, the Coral Gables attorney who represented the Pinecrest resident who prevailed in the 2002 case.

Korge, a board member of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival — the largest ticketed event in the city every year — said last week he wouldn’t hesitate to go to court again.

“The $1 surcharge under Florida law is a tax, and I don’t even think there’s a debate,” Korge said.

The arts festival is seemingly off the hook from the surcharge. City Attorney Julie Bru said she considers it exempt because it falls into the category of a consumer show where products are sold to the public.

Other exemptions would include city-run facilities that host banquets, conferences, conventions or trade shows.

Despite the threat of a lawsuit, Bru said she believes the city has the power to pass the new ordinance because of broad home-rule powers that allow Florida municipalities to set fees and taxes.

“We will deal with a lawsuit, if in fact it materializes,” said Bru, who said she believes the city has the authority to spend the money as it wishes.

The city already has a surcharge ordinance in place that hasn’t been challenged, legal experts say, because the money collected goes directly toward operational costs for that particular venue.

City administrators say the Spence-Jones plan could generate as much as $275,000 in revenue the first year, and more in additional years, enough to pay for parades that have not been allotted funds in the past.

Spence-Jones introduced the new ordinance in November. It received preliminary approval with a 3-1 vote, with Commissioner Marc Sarnoff opposed and Commission Chairman Francis Suarez absent.

Money earned from the surcharge would be held in a trust controlled by commissioners and be limited to paying only for parades.

“This year we were able to penny pinch and pull out $275,000 to pay for parades,” Spence-Jones told commissioners. “Next year we may not.”

Facilities expected to fall under the new surcharge include the Miami Marine Stadium, Coconut Grove Expo Center and Miami Convention Center. The Bayfront Park Amphitheater is also on the list, though Bru and others said it’s doubtful the charge could be added for a while because of a contract the city has with concert promoter Live Nation.

The Manuel Artime Community Center in Little Havana would be excluded, at the insistence of Commissioner Frank Carollo, along with the Miami International Boat Show, Florida A&M’s Orange Blossom Classic and the police department’s Charity Pig Bowl football game.