Reading Parking Authority officials said they are not seeking changes to the authority’s cooperation agreement with the city as the current agreement approaches its expiration at the end of the year.

Rafael Batista, the authority’s executive director, and authority solicitor Mahlon Boyer told City Council during a recent committee-of-the-whole meeting that the authority is satisfied with the agreement as it stands following an amendment approved in January.

“The parking authority has not been discussing any changes to the cooperation agreement and would have nothing to propose at this time,” Boyer said.

The cooperation agreement governs the relationship between the city and the authority, including the authority’s annual payments to the city. The agreement renews in three-year terms, though Boyer said the parties can agree to amendments at any time.

Under the previous agreement, the authority was required to pay the city $1.76 million annually.

An amendment approved in January reduced that payment to about $1.25 million and allows the authority to redirect roughly $511,000 annually toward reducing its outstanding bond debt.

“The roughly $511,000 that had been paid to the city is now paid by the parking authority to reduce its debt service towards the bonds,” Boyer said.

The change was intended to accelerate repayment of the authority’s debt and reduce its long-term interest costs.

During discussion, council members asked how much debt remains.

Officials said the authority has about $22 million outstanding from bonds issued in 2019, down from about $30 million. The borrowing was used both to refinance earlier debt and to pay for extensive renovations to the city’s parking garages in 2020 and 2021.

The authority plans to continue applying the roughly $500,000 annual savings from the reduced city payment toward the debt and could consider additional payments to shorten the repayment period, Boyer said.

City Solicitor Fred Lachat said he and city Finance Director Joseph Famiglietti are expected to meet with parking authority officials before the renewal is finalized.

“I think both sides are pretty content,” Lachat said, adding that city officials want to make sure that remains the case before committing to another term.

Council President Donna Reed said council could revisit the issue in November after those discussions take place.