City Hall and Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to fight a huge bill they received from the company that runs Chicago's parking meters.
"I can say, 'No,' in many languages if it's required," he quipped at a Thursday press conference.
Chicago Parking Meters LLC wants $22 million to cover parking for cars that displayed disabled placards or license plates. The bill, sent May 17, is in addition to two existing tabs Emanuel already said he plans to fight.
The company said earlier this year the city owes $14 million from money supposedly lost when street repairs and festivals took meters out of service. Before that, the city already was fighting a $13.5 million claim over free parking given to those with disabled parking rights.
All three bills total close to $50 million.
"They got another thing coming," Emanuel said this month in response to the first two bills.
"I sent them a letter back," he said. "And let me say this, in the envelope wasn't a check. I sent them back a clear and unambiguous message: No."
Emanuel’s chief financial officer reportedly called the way Chicago Parking Meters LLC calculated "adjustments" to make up for parking spaces taken out of service last year "legally and factually erroneous.”
Chicago Parking Meters LLC made more than $80 million from the meters last year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, and the company's financial performance slightly exceeded experts' projections.
