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After a year of negotiations, the city has unveiled final details of a controversial parking deal on which Mayor John DeStefano’s proposed new $476 million city budget hinges.
Click here and here to read the lease and sublease. The city released them Friday afternoon. Now the Board of Aldermen has to decide whether to OK them.
The deal is a crucial part of ongoing budget negotiations for the upcoming year. It calls for the city to hand over 25 years worth of meter revenue — worth an estimated $120 million — to a Mayfield, Ohio firm called Gates Capital Partners in return for a quick up-front $50 million to spend over five years. The mayor argues that the deal will enable New Haven to avoid more layoffs or tax increases.
Click here to read an in-depth story in which three parking experts and one losing bidder analyze the deal.
The deal is part of a national trend of governments selling off or leasing parking assets, and giving up 25 to 30 years of revenue, in attempt to plug a short-term budget hole.
Throughout the duration of this contract, the city will maintain control over the daily operation of the parking meters, including personnel and fees. The city expects to get more revenue per year than the annual lease payments, according to city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga. The city will have the right to “retain all revenue gains achieved through real growth and fee increases,” she wrote in a statement.
Budget director Larry Rusconi said the basic structure of the deal is “essentially the same as when first announced.”
The deal aims to protect New Haven taxpayers “from bearing the full impact of today’s very difficult economy which would otherwise require either drastic reductions in services or significantly higher taxes or both,” added city Corporation Counsel Victor Bolden.
“The underlying documents regarding the parking transaction reflect a commitment to undertaking this deal in a fiscally responsible way and to maintaining operational and managerial control of its parking assets throughout the transaction’s term,” he wrote in a statement.