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Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Congratulations, Chicago: Your City Now Has The Most Expensive Parking Meters In The U.S.

In a move that will earn it the dubious honor of being home to North America’s most expensive parking meters, Chicago’s downtown meters will start charging parkers $6.50 an hour starting on New Year’s Day, up from $5.75. It’s the highest rate for a downtown area and the fifth year the city’s parking meter rates have gone up. Umm, so, congratulations?

By the end of February Chicago Parking Meters LLC will have all machines set to new rates, says CBS Chicago. Since that company took control of the city’s meters in 2008, rates have kept rising. It secured the lucrative contract under a 75-year lease championed by former Mayor Richard M. Daley.

The current guy in charge, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, is apparently not so pleased with the deal, which involved a $1.1 billion payment going to the city. That money has mostly been spent, and Emanuel has ordered an independent audit of the deal since everyone seems to view it as kind of a financial disaster.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Leave it to unions and libral retards running the city and that is what you get.

Anonymous said...

When the gangs are not busy shooting and killing, maybe they can rob the meters. Leave the people alone for a few minutes.

Gary Foxwell said...

I don't understand, this is a classic example of government turning over a simple task to private industry. This is what all of you small government people want, isn't it.

Anonymous said...

7:18
The government in Chicago sold this to a private company with a 99 year lease. Money up front and sold out the citizens.
Typical libtard thinking