Aldermen OK changes to Chicago parking meter deal

Chicago's City Council has approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to tweak the much-maligned deal that privatized the city's 36,000 parking meters.

On Wednesday, the City Council voted 39-11 to accept the changes Emanuel proposed to the harshly criticized deal made by then-Mayor Richard Daley and approved by the council. Emanuel has said his changes could save taxpayers more than $1 billion over the next 71 years of the contract.

In April, Emanuel announced that Chicago Parking Meters LLC would settle its claims of lost revenue due to street closures for millions of dollars less than what the company said it was owed. The company also agreed not to charge for parking in neighborhoods on Sundays, with the city letting the company extend metered hours during the week.