Dec 4, 2008 12:02 pm US/Central
Parking Meter Rates To Skyrocket; No More Holidays
City Council Approves Plan To Privatize Meters, 40-5
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Parking meter rates will skyrocket beginnning January after the Chicago City Council voted 40-5 to approve a plan to privatize the city's meters.
CBS
The City Council voted 40-5 Thursday morning in favor of a plan that will dramatically increase the cost of parking at a meter in the city, and do away with free parking on Sundays and certain holidays.
Some aldermen point out that parking meter rates have not been raised in 20 years, but others argue that raising the rates would hurt local businesses.
Mayor Richard M. Daley announced on Tuesday a 75-year contract with Chicago Parking Meters, LLC, a firm organized by Morgan Stanley, to privatize the collection of funds from the approximately 36,000 metered spaces on the streets of Chicago. The length of the contract means it is essentially permanent, rather than a temporary fix for economic conditions.
Right now, it costs $3 per hour to park in the Loop, $1 per hour for the Central Business District outside the Loop – an area bounded roughly by Division Street, Cermak Road, Halsted Street and Lake Michigan. It costs 25 to 75 cents in the neighborhoods outside the downtown area, with higher rates in higher-density neighborhoods, particularly on the north lakefront.
Effective next year, it will cost $3.50 to park in the Loop, $2 to park downtown outside the Loop, and $1 to park in the neighborhoods.
Those rates will go up every year through 2013, at which point it will cost $6.50 per hour to park in the Loop, $4 to park in downtown outside the Loop, and $2 to park in the neighborhoods. After that, rates will be adjusted annually by inflation, the city said.
Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) poured 26 quarters out of a piggy bank to demonstrate how much $6.50 actually is -- and how so many can't afford it.
"I don't know how we expect the lower and middle class to live, to continue to live in this city," he said.
There will be non-cash options for all meters, the city said.
In addition to all that, there would be no more free parking at meters on Sundays, nor at the handful of holidays every year where meters now do not need to be fed. In at least some areas, free parking overnight will also be done away with.
"I thought you're supposed to get a break every once in a while," motorist Joe Rychlik complained. "It's not a normal shopping day, people are usually home. Why are you gonna punish people out doing something they might have to do that day?"
No one likes to pay more, but aldermen say the revenue is needed to fill the budget gap.
"Metered parking was not intended to serve as an all-day parking resource, ever," said Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd). "It was meant to be transient. It was supposed to encourage turnover, as Ald. (Tom) Tunney has mentioned earlier. We don't see that today."
Some Chicagoans were resigned to the plan because of the need to raise money, but others said it would be a deterrent from coming downtown.
"The city needs the money; that's what they have to do," said Angie Griffin. "I don't know how many people would be favorable towards that."
"For the consumers, we really don't have a lot of options left, so it's going to squeeze everybody, force everybody's discretionary spending to go down," said Uhmer Ahmad. "We're not going to have enough money to spend on the actual stores if we're paying for increased public transportation and increased parking rates."
"That's really outrageous," added Cynthia Peterson. "I mean, you work downtown, or you come downtown to eat, or whatever, then you have to pay like that, that's going to stop people from coming downtown. It's going to hurt business."
Mayor Daley wants to use the funds to help pay for city programs, balance the city budget, and help people who have lost their jobs or homes.
With the parking meter deal, Daley's selling spree has now unloaded four city assets for a combined $6 billion. The sell-off started with the Chicago Skyway ($1.83 billion), continued with downtown parking garages ($563 million) and culminated in the sale of Midway Airport ($2.5 billion).
What's next? The city is already peddling its waste transfer stations. Chicago water filtration plants are the next logical choice. But who knows?
"We're not gonna tell you now," Daley said earlier this week.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley, Joanie Lum and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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