A compromise between Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and City Council keeps a trio of parking-for-pensions plans alive, at least until a June showdown that could decide the price of a space and the state of city finances.

Council on Tuesday voted, 8-1, to commission a study of the value of Parking Authority garages and lots, and city meters. The study also will weigh proposals for using those assets to bolster the city pension fund.

But council members added a stipulation that the study be delivered on June 16, the day after bids are due for the mayor's proposal to lease 11 parking garages and 9,000 meters to a private party.

That scheduling stipulation, floated by Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, addressed Mr. Ravenstahl's concern that council's study would skew the bids. The mayor hopes a lease of as long as 50 years will gross more than $300 million, and net $200 million after paying off garage debt.

Mr. Ravenstahl is pushing the parking lease as a way to boost the pension fund's assets to half of the $1 billion it needs to fulfill long-term obligations.

Councilman Patrick Dowd and city Controller Michael Lamb have proposed transferring ownership of some garages to the pension fund, an idea that lawyers for the parking authority and pension fund have called illegal. Council President Darlene Harris wants to borrow money via a bond backed by parking and ticket revenue.

Mr. Ravenstahl said that his effort could be hurt if officials "get caught up in competing proposals or we get caught up in dialogue that ultimately leads to doing nothing." Then a state takeover of the city pension fund would force the city to boost contributions by, in the administration's estimation, $20 million a year.

Council wants the Chicago-based Government Finance Officers Association to study the options, at a cost of as much as $50,000. Jeff Esser, GFOA's executive director, said the organization will consider any request, has expertise in examining privatization plans, and could look at the authority's financial statements and get a sense of its assets and financial health.

Councilman Ricky Burgess voted against the study, saying he doesn't want to delay the mayor's plan. But Mr. Dowd said council should have its "own advice" and "own numbers" before voting on any plan. Councilman Doug Shields said council members shouldn't "twiddle our thumbs while some other people dictate the future of the city."

Mr. Ravenstahl said a lease would include terms that allow a private operator to gradually boost rates to market levels over three years. "That is what we plan to achieve through this negotiation process, and [rates will] be in line with what the private market now is currently charging," he said.

That would appear to mean a gradual, but significant, rise in the cost of parking. The public Fort Duquesne and Sixth Street Garage, for instance, charges $9.75 for all-day parking, while private garages in that area charge upwards of $16, according to authority reports.

After year three or four, rates could only rise in tune with the local rate of inflation, unless the operator got a waiver from the public sector.

Mr. Ravenstahl said the gradual rise in rates under his plan contrasts with the other plans.

He said that if garages were given to the pension fund, it would have a responsibility to hike rates dramatically to boost its funding level. Repaying a bond like the one Ms. Harris proposed would demand a prompt and steep hike in rates, he claimed.

Ms. Harris denied that, saying a hike in parking tickets and expansion of meter enforcement would help cover her plan's borrowing costs. Ravenstahl administration officials said that their proposed lease terms also would require the operator to maintain and, where necessary, rebuild garages.

The city also would demand that the private operator reserve garage spaces for short-term parkers, and move from single-space street meters to multi-space "pay-and-display" meters.

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