Up next for possible outsourcing by Detroit: city garages, parking lots and meters, The Detroit News reports.
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr wants to put a price tag on the money-losing municipal parking system before deciding whether to sell it. . . .
The city’s projected parking revenue this year is $12.9 million but expenses are forecast at about $19 million, according to Orr. . . .
Gary Brown, the city’s new chief operating officer, said restructuring consultants are working on an assessment of the parking system’s assets. Brown said if the parking department were better-managed, it could probably bring in $2 million to $3 million more per year.
A private company already processes parking tickets for the city. Wider outsourcing, which Orr first proposed in June, would follow the lead of cities such as Chicago and Indianapolis, says an article by Robert Snell and Christine Ferretti.
Detroit manages nine parking garages with 8,688 spaces, plus another 1,240 in two public parking lots.
The city owns two parking garages while others are owned by the Detroit Building Authority.
There are another 3,404 on-street, metered parking spaces, and tickets are handled through a private company.
