City in Georgia that oursources its government

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/business/a-georgia-town-takes-the-peoples-business-private.html

[DaveinElma]

And of course it drives liberals nuts that people can actually exist and thrive without government. Keep taxing people to death and keep watching your tax base dwindle.

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/lawsuit-seeks-dissolution-of-888729.html

 

The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus filed a lawsuit Monday against the state of Georgia seeking to dissolve the city charters of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hills. Further, the lawmakers, joined by civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery, aim to dash any hopes of a Milton County.

Hyosub Shin hshin@ajc.com Civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery is among the plaintiffs, who claim the state circumvented the typical legislative process in creating “super-majority white neighborhoods.”

 

 

The lawsuit, filed in a North Georgia U.S. District Court Monday, claims that the state circumvented the normal legislative process and set aside its own criteria when creating the “super-majority white ” cities within Fulton and DeKalb counties. The result, it argues, is to dilute minority votes in those areas, violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

[ExiledInIllinois]

But the ones dissolving it are gov't right?

 

Just give it time and a number of years... The private sector will cannibalize itself even worse.

 

Similar things happen within gov't when it comes to contracting/whoring out. In the 1980's under Reagan, BFLO district, USACE was the center for all Great Lakes dredge ops... They decided to contract out and eliminate all in-house ops, scap its fleet.... Contracts stayed flat for a few years... Then when the private setcor realized there was no in-house competition, costs soared 500%.

 

Damn if you do, damn if yoj don't with the public sector.

[tomato can]

And of course it drives liberals nuts that people can actually exist and thrive without government. Keep taxing people to death and keep watching your tax base dwindle.

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/lawsuit-seeks-dissolution-of-888729.html

 

 

I'm no liberal. More of a moderate. You are saying people are being taxed to death, well I copy & pasted the article below. What do you call this? Capitalism

 

 

 

The private investors who run Chicago’s parking meters are doing better than expected, and now they’re demanding an additional $14 million they say they’re owed under obscure provisions of the wildly unpopular 2008 deal that privatized metered parking and caused rates to soar, records show.[...]

 

The $14 million bill stems from parking revenues the meter company says it lost when the city took meters out of service last year because of street repairs, festivals and other city-sponsored activities, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

 

This is the second time in a year that the company has hit City Hall with a claim for a big parking tab. The Emanuel administration already is in arbitration over a $13.5 million claim over free parking that Chicago Parking Meters says it provided to people displaying disabled-parking placards or license plates in 2010.

 

That makes the total disputed amount more than $27 million.

 

The parking meter company took in more than $80 million from meters across Chicago in 2011, according to documents it filed this week with city officials.

 

See, the private company is not running city parking meters. They are running parking spots in Chicago. and they want their money. City Parking Meters are there for a lot of reasons, and not just to simply to provide parking, but also to control parking availability and provide flexibility for important public esteem building events that need street space to be held, accommodations for the disabled and the like.

 

Privatized meters are there to make a private company who runs them, money from controlling parking.

 

From the Sun Times article I cited earlier in this post, Chicago meters made 23 million in revenue the year prior to the private takeover. If you expect this level of production for the next 75 years, they will yield about 1.785 billion for the company that paid 1.15 billion to lease the meters from the city.

 

Meter revenue has already exceeded that in the 3 years since the private takeover:

 

Meter collections kept by Chicago Parking Meters LLC since then:

 

2009: $45.6 million

 

2010: $71.2 million

 

2011: $82.8 million

 

Average those together and you get $4.7904 billion over 72 years. Over 400% profit. 72 more years of this sh*tty deal for Chicago tax payers as revenue from the parking system of their city is siphoned away for a discount price.

[3rdnlng]

I'm no liberal. More of a moderate. You are saying people are being taxed to death, well I copy & pasted the article below. What do you call this? Capitalism

 

 

 

The private investors who run Chicago’s parking meters are doing better than expected, and now they’re demanding an additional $14 million they say they’re owed under obscure provisions of the wildly unpopular 2008 deal that privatized metered parking and caused rates to soar, records show.[...]

 

The $14 million bill stems from parking revenues the meter company says it lost when the city took meters out of service last year because of street repairs, festivals and other city-sponsored activities, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

 

This is the second time in a year that the company has hit City Hall with a claim for a big parking tab. The Emanuel administration already is in arbitration over a $13.5 million claim over free parking that Chicago Parking Meters says it provided to people displaying disabled-parking placards or license plates in 2010.

 

That makes the total disputed amount more than $27 million.

 

The parking meter company took in more than $80 million from meters across Chicago in 2011, according to documents it filed this week with city officials.

 

See, the private company is not running city parking meters. They are running parking spots in Chicago. and they want their money. City Parking Meters are there for a lot of reasons, and not just to simply to provide parking, but also to control parking availability and provide flexibility for important public esteem building events that need street space to be held, accommodations for the disabled and the like.

 

Privatized meters are there to make a private company who runs them, money from controlling parking.

 

From the Sun Times article I cited earlier in this post, Chicago meters made 23 million in revenue the year prior to the private takeover. If you expect this level of production for the next 75 years, they will yield about 1.785 billion for the company that paid 1.15 billion to lease the meters from the city.

 

Meter revenue has already exceeded that in the 3 years since the private takeover:

 

Meter collections kept by Chicago Parking Meters LLC since then:

 

2009: $45.6 million

 

2010: $71.2 million

 

2011: $82.8 million

 

Average those together and you get $4.7904 billion over 72 years. Over 400% profit. 72 more years of this sh*tty deal for Chicago tax payers as revenue from the parking system of their city is siphoned away for a discount price.

 

What did it cost the private company to buy the right to the proceeds and what does it cost them in yearly expenses to collect the fees and maintain the meters, etc.?

[tomato can]

What did it cost the private company to buy the right to the proceeds and what does it cost them in yearly expenses to collect the fees and maintain the meters, etc.?

 

 

They paid the city 1.15 billion for a 75 year lease of the parking meters. They say it cost between 3 & 4 million a year to maintain them. The city also leased out its parking garages. I had to go downtown to Northwestern Hospital for a test my doctor odered. Had to park in the parking garage 1 block from the hospital. I was there for 2 & half hours. It cost me $35 for parking in the garage.

Edited June 25, 2012 by tomato can

[3rdnlng]

They paid the city 1.15 billion for a 75 year lease of the parking meters. They say it cost between 3 & 4 million a year to maintain them. The city also leased out its parking garages. I had to go downtown to Northwestern Hospital for a test my doctor odered. Had to park in the parking garage 1 block from the hospital. I was there for 2 & half hours. It cost me $35 for parking in the garage.

 

What it cost you to park in the garage has no bearing other than the city most likely over charged for so many years that when they got in trouble and wanted to sell they could prove what a good investment it was at 1.15 billion dollars. What you've given me are some basic figures and there will be alot more in order to accurately figure the deal. Were the figures I asked for in the original document you posted, and did they purchase the garages too? If so, did they pay any additional amounts? Was the parking garages figured into the gross receipts? I'm not an accountant, but I've evaluated enough deals to know that the information you have provided is nowhere near enough to make any salient claims.

[ExiledInIllinois]

I find it hard to believe a middle-man, contractor is going to take ownership and act as good stewards for the community. Their number one goal is to turn a profit. They will only do what is written into the the contract. We have historically gone down this road and it doesn't work out. The gov't ends up picking up the slack. They overcharge and then do the bare minimum contractwise. How is this good? You can't possibly write everything into a contract.

[3rdnlng]

I find it hard to believe a middle-man, contractor is going to take ownership and act as good stewards for the community. Their number one goal is to turn a profit. They will only do what is written into the the contract. We have historically gone down this road and it doesn't work out. The gov't ends up picking up the slack. They overcharge and then do the bare minimum contractwise. How is this good? You can't possibly write everything into a contract.

 

I know, those state and municipal workers patching the highways are so much more industrious than the privately contracted workers. If they (the private contractors) will only do what is written in the contract then who are you going to blame? A contract is between two entities.

[ExiledInIllinois]

I know, those state and municipal workers patching the highways are so much more industrious than the privately contracted workers. If they (the private contractors) will only do what is written in the contract then who are you going to blame? A contract is between two entities.

 

I am not really blaming the contract if they can just put in there:

 

"All duties as assigned."

[3rdnlng]

I am not really blaming the contract if they can just put in there:

 

"All duties as assigned."

 

That's just an assinine response. Are you at work?

[Buff_bills4ever]

I can see privatizing certain things like the Parks Dept, but this seems like a bad idea. Those contracts better expire on a year to year basis, or this town is going to get screwed.

[DC Tom]

I am not really blaming the contract if they can just put in there:

 

"All duties as assigned."

 

That's pretty damn normal for a government contract. Every one I've see (federal, of course) has that in, largely because the federal government's too damn dumb to not assign extra work above and beyond the contract.

 

The bigger issue is probably any lack of competition. One company running all the meters is not a "free market" solution.

[tomato can]

What it cost you to park in the garage has no bearing other than the city most likely over charged for so many years that when they got in trouble and wanted to sell they could prove what a good investment it was at 1.15 billion dollars. What you've given me are some basic figures and there will be alot more in order to accurately figure the deal. Were the figures I asked for in the original document you posted, and did they purchase the garages too? If so, did they pay any additional amounts? Was the parking garages figured into the gross receipts? I'm not an accountant, but I've evaluated enough deals to know that the information you have provided is nowhere near enough to make any salient claims.

 

 

Not sure who purchased the parking garages but it was purchased for 530 million dollars. Either way it never cost that much to park there before. It got privatized and the parking rates went right through the roof.

 

In 2007 the City of Chicago took 20 mil from its parking meters. Prior to 2007 they tried several times to raise parking rates and the people cried foul and the city council always voted it down because it was a political hot potato. In 2008 they rammed the 1.15 bil 75 year lease of the parking meters through the city council and the parking rates soared. Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel announced last week that he wasn’t going to pay a $14 million bill sent to the city by the company that runs the city’s parking meters. The bill in question from Chicago Parking Meters LLC, is for what the company says it’s owed for revenues lost when the city closed streets for repairs, street fairs, ect. The company recently sent the city a similar sized bill to compensate for the lost revenues from Chicago drivers using “disabled” placards. That’s currently in arbitration. A group of investors, led by Morgan Stanley, took over Chicago parking, ripping out old meters and replacing them with high-tech pay boxes. Street parking in Chicago’s Loop now costs $5.75 an hour. Next year it will be $6.50. By the end of the 75 year lease term, Chicago looks to pay CPM more than the original $1.16 billion lump sum payment it received in 2008, in other words, over the length of the contract, CPM will get their entire initial investment of $1.16 billion back through givebacks while reaping many billions of dollars in profits from Chicago drivers. This deal stinks for the people and this is what happens when you privatize!

[DC Tom]

Not sure who purchased the parking garages but it was purchased for 530 million dollars. Either way it never cost that much to park there before. It got privatized and the parking rates went right through the roof.

 

By one company?

 

DC parking garages are all private...but split between three or four different management companies (and probably a few property management companies as well).

[tomato can]

I can see privatizing certain things like the Parks Dept, but this seems like a bad idea. Those contracts better expire on a year to year basis, or this town is going to get screwed.

 

 

It's a 75 year lease! Were screwed

[DC Tom]

It's a 75 year lease! Were screwed

 

That is so retarded it's funny. What the !@#$ was the city government thinking?

[3rdnlng]

I can see privatizing certain things like the Parks Dept, but this seems like a bad idea. Those contracts better expire on a year to year basis, or this town is going to get screwed.

 

 

It doesn't work that way. In this instance it appears Chicago, because of its problems desperately needed money and sold off one of its assets. In order to receive more than a billion they had to lease their parking out for a long, long, time. The people leasing it would have went for less years but Chicago needed more money, thus a 75 year lease. This is nothing but liberalism gone wrong.

[tomato can]

By one company?

 

DC parking garages are all private...but split between three or four different management companies (and probably a few property management companies as well).

 

One Company Tom. I copy & pasted the article below.... your thoughts????

 

 

 

Morgan Stanley paid Chicago $563 million for the rights to lease Chicago’s downtown parking garages. The $563 million the city received from the 99 year downtown parking garage lease is nearly half of the $1.15 billion dollars Chicago received from the 75 year parking meter lease. Compared to the parking meter lease, Mayor Daley bestowed Morgan Stanley with an additional 24 years to collect parking garage revenue from Chicago drivers who have little or no other parking options if they want to park downtown. Financial experts and citizens complain that the 75 year parking meter lease is too long, but the parking garage lease is worse, Mayor Daley leased the downtown parking garages for a length of time that is one-third longer (99 years) than the parking meter lease (75 years).

 

The parking garage lease makes car owners vulnerable to price gouging. At least with the Chicago Skyway and the parking meter leases, Mayor Daley put the rates to drive on the tollway or park on public streets into the Skyway and parking meter contracts. Mayor Daley’s parking garage contract did not include a garage parking fee schedule, which means Morgan Stanley can charge what it wants for you to park in a downtown lot. Furthermore, Morgan Stanley can legally buy additional parking lots not owned by the city to create a parking monopoly. The terms of the downtown parking garage lease is the reason why it cost you $27.00 to park your car in a parking garage formerly operated by the city. When Mayor Daley sold off the rights to the Chicago Skyway, parking garages, and parking meters, Daley’s concern was his political future. Mayor Daley failed to consider neither the future of subsequent Chicago mayors nor the long-term fiscal security of Chicago. Mayor Daley sold off Chicago’s parking garages to payoff the debt he created in building Millennium Park. Mayor Daley has since spent Chicago parking meter, and Skyway lease money to pay other debts and bills to keep Chicago running during his tenure as mayor. Within five years Mayor Daley has spent nearly all of the $3.6 billion dollars that he received in upfront money from the toll road, parking meter and parking garage leases. For the next 94 years Chicago will not receive so much as a dime from people who pay to drive on the Chicago Skyway or park in a Morgan Stanley operated parking garage. For the next 73 years Chicago will not receive any cash each time a driver pays for street parking. Mayor Daley leveraged Chicago’s financial future so he could have more money to spend. Mayor Daley opting to turn Chicago assets into instant cash has put the city in a deep financial hole that will last 90 or more years.

[ExiledInIllinois]

That's just an assinine response. Are you at work?

Why is that so hard to understand... They write that into my job description. If they ever could contract out the job, why couldn't they write that into the contract: "All duties assigned by gov't project manager."

 

And no, not at work... But if I was... I would be there to do anything that needed to be done. Shocking isn't it? That we operate old schoool even with the blessing of the union.