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Chicago leaders to discuss parking meter ownership transfer
Chicago aldermen are expected to discuss a proposed transfer of the city's controversial parking meter lease to a new investment company.
CHICAGO - Chicago aldermen are expected to discuss Thursday a proposed transfer of the city's controversial parking meter lease to a new investment company.
What we know:
City Council members will review a proposal that would allow New York-based investment firm Stonepeak Partners to take over ownership of Chicago's parking meter lease from the current operators.
The parking meter system has been controversial since 2008, when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley approved a more than $1 billion deal to lease Chicago's parking meters to a private company for 75 years. The city used the money to help cover a budget shortfall.
Critics have called the agreement one of the worst financial deals in Chicago's history because private investors recovered their investment in about 15 years and will continue collecting parking meter revenue for another 60 years.
Mayor Brandon Johnson previously explored buying back the parking meter system but later said the cost was too high.
What they're saying:
A group of 15 aldermen is raising concerns about Stonepeak after learning the company owns an aviation business that contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The aldermen sent a letter asking Stonepeak to guarantee that parking meter data will never be shared with ICE or used to track immigrants in Chicago.
What's next:
City Council members will discuss the proposal Thursday, but no vote is scheduled.
The Source: The information in this story was obtained and reported by FOX Chicago's Se Kwon.