Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said today that he has asked the Parking Authority to explore the possibility of leasing its network of garages to a private operator, with the aim of raising money to shore up the city's pension fund.

Mr. Ravenstahl said the leasing of parking garages and meters raised $1.7 billion in Chicago, and that Harrisburg is working on a plan to bring in $215 million that way. He said that given those results, it's something he has "a fiduciary responsibility to explore."

"This is another piece of the ultimate, I believe, plan for the long-term legacy costs of the city of Pittsburgh," he said. "Clearly, in order to have a fully funded pension fund ??? we're going to need some sort of influx of cash."

He said it could result in some increase in parking rates, and said he would try to structure any deal so that it would limit the effect on people who use the lots.

At the end of November, the pension fund contained $261 million, which is 29 percent of what it should hold to cover the payments due to retirees and current employees when they retire. The city must now put 11 percent of its operating budget into the fund.

If the city does nothing new to address the problem, the fund will be just 19 percent funded in 20 years, and will devour 20 percent of the city's operating budget.

City leaders have long viewed the authority's garages as an asset that could potentially be converted into cash, but none has gone so far as to study it, he said.

Next Thursday, he wants the Parking Authority board to vote to solicit proposals from consulting firms that would advise the authority on how it might lease the garages for, perhaps, 75 or 99 years. The chosen firm would then craft a second request for proposals to companies that would actually lease the garages.

Both processes, like all city-related contracts going forward, should be competitive, he said.

Mr. Ravenstahl said he wouldn't pull the trigger on a deal unless it would pay off the authority's $108 million debt, plus yield "hundreds of millions of dollars" for the pension fund.

If the city can pump $200 million into the fund, projections are that it would be 61 percent funded in 20 years. A $300 million infusion would bring it to an 87 percent funding level, which is considered to be healthy.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.