GLASGOW City Council's car parking company has posted its eighth consecutive annual loss since its creation.
City Parking ended 2014-15 more than £317,000 in the red after its operating profits failed to cover interest on the huge loans it took out to buy its garages from the council.
Accounts filed at Companies House show a slight improvement in the firm's finances: its losses were lower than in previous years.
However, the company's book value has now fallen to nearly minus £30 million. The business was set up by former council leader Steven Purcell in 2007.
Opposition leader Susan Aitken, pictured above, of the SNP called on the new-look Labour administration led by Frank McAveety to carry out a root-and-branch review of firms like City Parking, a so-called arm's-length external organisation or Aleo.
Last week it emerged that the city's biggest Aleo, City Building, had also reported another loss.
Ms Aitken said: "This latest loss is another example of how Glasgow is struggling due to poor short term decisions taken under Labour.
"City Parking and other Aleos have made loss after loss to pay off the debts hung around their necks for investment that isn't showing any gains.
"There must be a fundamental review of the Aleos and it is time for Cllr McAveety to start making decisions instead of hiding away in his office prevaricating on what to do."
City Parking has never raised enough in operational profit to cover the cost of its £45m loan to pay for the council's four main multi-storey car parks.
The business in 2013 went firmly into negative equity after it emerged that its mortgages were twice as high as its buildings' actual value.
Its car parks, such as Cambridge Street in Glasgow, pictured below, are worth just under £20m. But, even after council bailouts, City Parking has liabilities of nearly £47m, not including pensions liabilities.
Insiders stress that car parking firms across the UK have suffered in recent years and that the value of their assets has fallen. The retail downturn, growth of out-of-town shopping and rise of public transport has meant car parking is not as lucrative as it once was.
The buyout of local authority car parks by a council-owned entity was supposed to create cost-free credit for the local authority.
Instead, the council is ultimately responsible for the losses posted by City Parking. The local authority reorganised City Parking's debts during 2013-14. Crucially, its debts due within a year were slashed from £11m in March 2014 to £4.2m in the same month 2015 after an overdraft of £6m was cleared.
A council spokesman said: "City Parking continues to return an operating profit and perform in-line with its long-term business plan – while making a significant contribution to a number of city priorities, including substantial investment in infrastructure and carbon reduction."
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