Inspector General Rips Parking Meter Deal In Report: City Could Have Gotten Nearly $1 Billion More

The City of Chicago leased its parking meters for nearly $1 billion less than they were worth and the office in charge of valuing the meters didn't even run the numbers, according to a scathing report released Tuesday by the city's inspector general.

The "dubious" deal, reached hastily in December, to lease the city's 36,000 parking meters to a private company for 75 years for $1.157 billion earned the city about $997 million less than they were worth, a difference of nearly 45 percent, according to the report. And the city's chief financial officer, whose office oversaw the deal, failed to calculate how much the parking meter system would be worth to the city over 75 years if it retained the system rather than leasing it, the report found.

The report also criticizes the City Council for its lightning fast approval of the deal. Under pressure from Mayor Daley, the Council voted 40-5 in favor the plan only two days after Daley unveiled it.

"There was no meaningful public review of the decision," Inpsector General David Hoffman wrote in the report.

Read the full report: