$50 million parking ticket
Chicago Parking Meters, LLC has sent another bill to the city, totaling $22 million. To date, the parking meter company has sought reimbursement of almost $50 million for lost revenue due to street closures and disabled parking, saddling Chicago taxpayers with even more debt.
Chicago Parking Meters, LLC has sent another bill to the city, totaling $22 million, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. To date, the parking meter company has sought reimbursement of almost $50 million for lost revenue due to street closures and disabled parking.
Mayor Emanuel is refusing to pay this $50 million parking ticket. But it is unclear who would win in court if it ends up there, since there is a clause in the contract that does allow CPM to invoice the city for this lost revenue.
As the Parking Ticket Geek highlighted a couple of weeks ago, if CPM charged the city $14 million every year for ‘lost revenue’— and assuming the city will actually pay up— the company will earn back most of the $1.156 billion they ponied up back in 2008 by the end of the lease agreement in 2083.
That is unbelievable.
And in reality, the number will likely be much higher than that, and rise over time as the parking rates increase. So, even just assuming that the number will average what it is this time around, $22 million (though it will likely be more), it will only take the parking meter company 52 years to earn back their investment.
And keep in mind that they will earn back their investment without even including the $80 million+ in revenue that they are already seeing every year.
Just imagine if the City of Chicago decided to replace the meters and raise the rates on its own!
The scariest part of this whole ordeal is that there is still no law on the books protecting taxpayers from getting taken to the cleaner’s again. Certainly, asset privatization has become more unpopular than ever. But the Infrastructure Trust was unpopular too, and we saw that sail right through the City Council.
So until there is a law on the books to protect taxpayers from bad deals, Chicago taxpayers should assume that anything can happen.
Authors
Celeste Meiffren-Swango
State Director, Environment Oregon
As director of Environment Oregon, Celeste develops and runs campaigns to win real results for Oregon's environment. She has worked on issues ranging from preventing plastic pollution, stopping global warming, defending clean water, and protecting our beautiful places. Celeste's organizing has helped to reduce kids' exposure to lead in drinking water at childcare facilities in Oregon, encourage transportation electrification, ban single-use plastic grocery bags, defend our bedrock environmental laws and more. She is also the author of the children's book, Myrtle the Turtle, empowering kids to prevent plastic pollution. Celeste lives in Portland, Ore., with her husband and two daughters, where they frequently enjoy the bounty of Oregon's natural beauty.
