Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson said his administration will not pursue a potentially expensive deal to re-purchase the city's parking meters.
The Johnson Administration's consideration makes him the third Chicago mayor who's looked for ways out of the 75-year deal cut by former Mayor Richard M. Daley and approved by City Council back in 2008 to give a private company control over Chicago's street parking revenue.
"The parking meters deal was the worst deal in the history of municipal finance," the mayor told reporters after an event Tuesday at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. "This agreement leaves very little room to successfully intervene on behalf of taxpayers."
The mayor said the biggest hurdle was the potential purchase price, which he estimated would be more than double the $1.15 billion the city received in the initial agreement. He added that the city would have to borrow the entire purchase price.
"We would be locked into ever-rising debt payments that would require City Council to increase parking rates year after year," said the mayor. "It just underscores how bad of a deal this was."
He added that City Council does have some say in who takes over the parking meter contract, and that could bring changes to the deal if it comes before aldermen.