A major part of the City’s pension bailout plan hinges upon getting more money from the Parking Authority as a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT). This year "Authority Payments", which count money from authorities in addition to the Parking Authority, total $11.4 million. Next year the amount is forecast at $20.1 million, an amount projected annually from the current five-year forecast.
A letter from a Councilman to the Mayor stated the Parking PILOT agreement "…currently gives the City $1.3 million dollars…This needs to increase to $2.6 million this year and $9.3 million in 2012 and beyond in order to cover the hole in the City’s budget from diverting parking tax revenue to the pension". Movement on that measure has effectively ground to a halt. The latest incident coming last week when a majority of the board voted against forming a panel to study how the Authority could raise revenue and dedicate some of it to the City. The panel idea was put forth by a board member who is also a City Council member and a proponent of the bailout plan. All of this serves as a way to examine what the proper relationship between the City and its authorities really should be.
The Controller’s CAFR notes that the cooperation agreement between the City and the Parking Authority dates back to February of 1995. It was amended five years later to increase the PILOT payment to where it currently is. That increase was 36%; the current proposal for 2011 to 2012 would be for a more than three fold increase. The payment is made, however, "…only upon the Parking Authority successfully meeting its debt service requirements". The Authority has outstanding debt of around $100 million.
