The City Council approved back in 2008 a spike in parking meter rates that took effect Monday.
The City Council approved back in 2008 a spike in parking meter rates that took effect Monday.
The hike has Chicagoans up in arms.
The green light for the rate increase came when aldermen agreed to privatize Chicago’s 36,000 meters.
“The rate increases were approved by the City Council when we signed a contract to lease the city’s parking meters,” said Avis LaVelle, a spokeswoman for Chicago Parking Meters LLC, a private Chicagobased company that signed a 75-year lease with the city. “So if motorists are not happy with the increases they should speak to their aldermen.”
The City Council voted 40-5 to lease meters to CPM in exchange for a $1.2 billion payment upfront. The deal calls for incremental increases over the life of the lease. Rates were first increased January 2009 and will continue to increase each year until 2013 when rates will climb as high as $6.50 an hour for some meters. Last year’s increases were the first in 20 years.
The only Black aldermen who voted against the deal were Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) and Toni Preckwinkle (4th), now a candidate for Cook County board president.
“I have said it all along that this was a bad deal that will get worse before it gets better,” Hairston told the Defender. “This was a rush job. Aldermen did not have enough time to fully review the deal and we were not told all the information needed to make a sound decision, which is why I did not vote for it.”
In 2004 the city received a $1.8 billion upfront payment from Cintra- Macquarie Consortium, a Spanish/Australian group, to lease the Chicago Skyway for 99 years. And in 2008 the city attempted to lease Chicago Midway Airport over 99 years for $2.5 billion to Citi Infrastructure Investors, John Hancock and Vancouver Airport Services, but that deal was unsuccessful.
Some aldermen told the Defender immediately after the 2008 City Council decision that they voted for the lease deal to prevent a massive layoff from the city, something Mayor Richard M. Daley said was likely if the deal was not approved.
“This was the only way to prevent more city employees from losing their jobs,” said Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st) after the vote.
“I agree with the other aldermen that we did not have enough time to fully digest the proposal. But it was either vote for it or see more people laid off,” said Ald. Sharon Dixon (28th).
But LaVelle added that the increases are not solely to cover rising operating costs or due to the poor economy.
“The rate increases are designed to discourage motorists from parking their vehicles at a meter all day,” LaVelle said. “Merchants have complained about losing potential customers because there are no nearby parking spaces available. Before, people would feed the meters all day until they got off work. But now those who work in the area or plan to be gone for long periods of time (are) using parking garages instead.”
However, Hairston said that still “does not justify the rate increases to nearly $5.”
The rate increases vary depending on location.
Meters located in downtown areas near the lake, Wacker Drive and Congress Parkway increased to $4.25 an hour from $3.50. In the Central Business District, such as the West Loop, rates increased to $2.50 from $2 while meters in all other areas of the city increased to $1.25 from $1.
All but 6,000 meters have been replaced by 4,100 pay boxes, which accept cash and all major credit cards, and automatically self-report any technical problems the box may experience.
