Chicago City Council Approves Revamped Parking Meter Deal With Stonepeak in 46-3 Vote (Chicago, IL) — Nearly two decades after Chicago entered into one of the most controversial privatization agreements in the city’s history, the City Council has approved a new deal governing the future ownership of its parking meter system.
Aldermen voted 46-3 Tuesday to approve the transfer of Chicago Parking Meters LLC to New York-based infrastructure investment firm Stonepeak Partners, clearing the way for a $2.53 billion transaction after months of negotiations over concessions for the city. The agreement amends portions of the original 75-year parking meter concession while leaving the underlying lease in place.
The vote follows an earlier attempt by Stonepeak to acquire the parking meter operation that encountered significant resistance in the City Council. Aldermen used the proposed ownership transfer as leverage to negotiate additional financial and operational concessions before agreeing to the transaction.
Finance Committee Chair Pat Dowell, Ald. Nicole Lee, Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett, Ald. Scott Waguespack and Ald. Gilbert Villegas were among the council members involved in those negotiations.
“We are grateful to our colleagues for voting to pass this agreement that improves the financial position of our city for years to come,” the aldermen said in a joint statement following the vote.
“Weeks of extensive, deliberative and thoughtful negotiations led to this unprecedented deal, which represents significant progress as compared to the previous proposal.”
A New Owner, but the Original Lease Remains
The vote does not return Chicago’s parking meters to city ownership.
Instead, it allows Stonepeak to purchase Chicago Parking Meters LLC, the private entity that controls the system under the 75-year concession agreement approved in 2008.
Under then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, Chicago leased roughly 36,000 parking meters to a private consortium for $1.15 billion. The deal runs through 2083 and became deeply unpopular after parking rates increased and questions emerged about whether the city had received adequate compensation for giving up decades of future revenue.
The original agreement has remained a political issue through several mayoral administrations.
Chicago Parking Meters generated about $1.97 billion in revenue between 2009 and 2024, according to records cited during the current City Council debate — already hundreds of millions of dollars more than the original $1.15 billion upfront payment to the city.
Stonepeak’s proposed $2.53 billion acquisition gave aldermen a rare opening to seek modifications to the arrangement because the ownership transfer required city approval.
City to Receive $75 Million Up Front
One of the most significant provisions negotiated by aldermen is a $75 million payment from Stonepeak to the city once the transaction closes.
The money is expected to be directed toward Chicago’s pension obligations.
That provision was not part of the original ownership-transfer proposal and became one of the central concessions secured during negotiations this summer.
The agreement also gives Chicago a share of revenue generated by the parking meter system for the remainder of the lease.
Stonepeak and Chicago Parking Meters LLC will provide the city with 5% of net operating income, a provision estimated to generate approximately $376.2 million through 2083. The estimate is based on current dollars and could change depending on the future performance of the meter system.
The arrangement marks a significant departure from the original concession, under which the city largely surrendered parking meter revenue in exchange for the $1.15 billion upfront payment.
Dowell, who chairs the City Council’s powerful Finance Committee, has described the 2008 arrangement as a warning about the risks associated with privatizing public assets without sufficient long-term protections.
At a Finance Committee meeting ahead of the final vote, she called the original transaction a “textbook case of what not to do in municipal finance.”
Negotiations Produced Additional Concessions
The financial payments were not the only changes aldermen secured.
Under the revised agreement, the city will have greater flexibility involving meter shutdowns connected to certain special events. Chicago has historically been required to compensate the parking meter operator when spaces are taken out of service, a provision that has generated substantial costs.
The new agreement changes how compensation is calculated for seven city-designated special events each year, potentially reducing those payments.
Stonepeak has also agreed to work with the city to explore turning certain non-metered blocks into electric vehicle charging locations. Revenue from those charging stations could be shared between Stonepeak and Chicago.
Another provision requires at least half of the Chicago Parking Meters workforce to live within the city. The company must also report information about the number of employees living on Chicago’s South and West sides.
The agreement additionally restricts Stonepeak from voluntarily providing the federal government with information about drivers who use Chicago’s parking system, according to details presented to aldermen.
Controversy Over Stonepeak-Owned Airline Became Part of Negotiations
The negotiations also expanded beyond parking meters themselves.
Several aldermen raised concerns about Stonepeak’s ownership interests connected to Omni Air International, an airline that has contracted with the federal government to conduct deportation flights.
Opposition to the parking meter acquisition grew after council members learned of the connection, with some aldermen saying they would not support the transaction unless Stonepeak divested from the airline.
On Monday, one day before the final City Council vote, Stonepeak announced that Air Transport Services Group had sold Omni Air International to OAI Holdings LLC.
The sale fulfilled one of the conditions negotiated as part of the parking meter agreement.
Earlier Proposal Faced Council Resistance
Stonepeak initially sought City Council approval earlier this year to acquire Chicago Parking Meters LLC, but the proposal stalled as aldermen demanded more from the company.
The city faced a Sept. 30 deadline to approve the ownership transfer or potentially enter arbitration and litigation over whether it could prevent the sale.
Rather than approve the transaction under its original terms, a group of council members led by Dowell entered into negotiations with Stonepeak over the summer.
Representatives of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Law Department and special counsel representing the City Council were also involved.
The revised agreement emerged publicly in mid-September.
Under the compromise, aldermen argued that Chicago could use the ownership transfer to recover at least some financial value from an agreement the city otherwise has limited ability to change.
The Legacy of the 2008 Deal
Chicago’s original parking meter agreement remains a defining example of the long-term consequences of municipal privatization.
The 2008 City Council approved the 75-year concession after a relatively brief review period. The city used much of the $1.15 billion upfront payment to address short-term budget pressures during the Great Recession.
The meters, however, remained under private control.
Subsequent administrations have attempted to modify portions of the agreement, but the city cannot simply cancel the contract without potentially enormous financial consequences.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel renegotiated portions of the concession in 2013, including changes that introduced free Sunday parking in many neighborhoods while extending meter hours in other locations.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration also examined the possibility of buying the meter system back. Earlier this year, the administration submitted a roughly $3.2 billion proposal before abandoning the idea after determining that reacquiring the meters presented substantial financial and political risks.
That left the Stonepeak transaction as the next major opportunity to alter portions of the deal.
Aldermen Call Agreement a Financial Improvement
Supporters have been careful to distinguish Tuesday’s agreement from a complete undoing of the 2008 privatization.
Chicago still will not own its parking meter system, and Stonepeak will retain the right to operate the system and collect revenue through the end of the concession in 2083.
But supporters argue the city has obtained benefits that did not exist under the previous arrangement, including the immediate $75 million payment and a continuing share of operating profits.
The deal comes at a particularly consequential moment for Chicago finances. The city is facing major pension obligations and an estimated $882 million budget gap, making new recurring revenue particularly significant.
For aldermen who negotiated the agreement, Tuesday’s vote represents an attempt to improve a contract they inherited rather than recreate it.
“We are proud to have helped forge this achievement,” Dowell, Lee, Burnett, Waguespack and Villegas said, “and look forward to seeing this plan implemented to the clear benefit of all Chicagoans in the months and years ahead.”
The vote closes one chapter in the long-running parking meter controversy, but the underlying lease still has nearly six decades remaining.
Chicagoans will continue feeding privately operated meters through 2083. The difference under the newly approved agreement is that, for the first time in years, a portion of the profits generated by that system will flow back to the city.
Chicago City Council Approves Revamped Parking Meter Deal With Stonepeak in 46-3 Vote
