Editorial: The hits just keep coming from Chicago's disastrous parking meter deal

The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune on May 22, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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How do you sleep at night? That’s the question Chicagoans should be asking the private investors behind the city’s infamous parking meter lease deal — a group that may soon squeeze another $15.5 million out of taxpayers, not for broken meters or breached contracts, but because former Mayor Lori Lightfoot dared to suspend parking enforcement during a public health emergency.

In the early, uncertain days of COVID-19, when people were told to stay home to save lives, Lightfoot chose compassion over citations. She told Chicagoans that tickets would be issued only for safety reasons. At a March 18, 2020, news conference, Lightfoot made it clear: parking at an expired meter wasn’t a public safety threat. Still, she said, drivers were expected to keep paying the meters.

Chicago Parking Meters LLC, the private entity that’s already made billions off its deal with the city, sued her for the loss in income.

The investors initially demanded $322 million, citing lapses in meter enforcement, the suspension of ticketing and a later dispute over how parking revenue was shared.

Mayor Brandon Johnson called the reduced payout a win. And it is, compared with what CPM originally demanded. But to everyday Chicagoans, it feels like a slap in the face: The meter system keeps raising fees and raking in profits, while drivers just keep feeding the meter.

We understand the profit motive. And a deal is a deal. But we also find it coldhearted to nickel and dime the city over Lightfoot’s attempts to do the right thing during a time of crisis.

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley inked the $1.15 billion, 75-year parking meter lease deal with CPM in 2008, using the quick infusion of cash to cover budget shortfalls. Unfortunately, as readers of this page know all too well, today the city finds itself in much the same financial situation as before, with growing debt and continued budget gaps.

CPM, on the other hand, has recouped its initial investment — and then some. In 2024 alone, the company pulled in nearly $161 million, a $10 million jump from the prior year, according to a KPMG audit released in April. That brings total earnings since the deal to just under $2 billion — a staggering figure.

The CPM investors already had taken the city of Chicago to the cleaners when they decided to sue over what for them is a rounding error in what they’re gaining from this transaction, forcing the city to pay the price for acting humanely in response to a once-in-a-century public health crisis.

Sometimes enforcing your “rights” isn’t what’s right.

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