Steve Bland Not So Reluctant

On June 14, I blogged that Steve Bland CEO of Port Authority, was "reluctant to raise the $2 base fare for Zone 1 because that would hurt its lowest-income customers and affect routes that are the most cost-effective." Instead, he threatened to raise suburban bus fares upwards of $7 one-way.

Who protested? The lowest-income customers who are busy putting food on their table? Or the downtown workers from the suburbs who can afford an increase the most? The results are pretty clear. Both zone 1 and zone 2 fares are going to raise by a whopping $0.25. In case you're not keeping track at home, that's a 12.5% increase in fare for the lowest-income customers who were already paying their way. The customers out in the suburbs will only see a 9% increase.

Not that the suburbanites are getting off easy in this highly probable round of cuts.

Among the 50-plus communities that would be left with no service are East McKeesport, Franklin Park, Glassport, Hampton, Indiana Township, Liberty, Marshall, North Versailles, Pennsbury Village, Port Vue, South Park and Wall, and the city neighborhoods of Banksville and Spring Garden. Service to the Edgewood Towne Centre and Robinson Town Centre shopping complexes would be abolished, the agency said.

But honestly, why does the Port Authority continue to subsidize suburban living when city dwellers are over-paying their fare share (and then some)? This is yet another case of poor judgment for the Port Authority. If the Port Authority unveiled a plan to charge the actual cost for each bus route (since they now have that data), people would be unhappy but they would understand the logic. Instead, we have unfair, illogical bus fare increases and radical service cuts insuring that everyone is unhappy.

Obviously, Port Authority wants us all to be angry and yell at our state legislators to restore funding for public transportation (which you should). But if Steve Bland is just playing a massive chess game with the state legislature, I'm afraid he's going to lose, and the lowest-income customers will be the biggest losers. So go contact your state legislators, and while you're at it, give Port Authority a piece of your mind.

Transparency in Lobbying

Who says that we don't have transparency in government?

In Pennsylvania, once again, it's shown to be all too clear who controls the purse-strings of the state. The corporations. It's only fitting that the G20 will be based in Pittsburgh this week.

Latest moronic poor budget patch?

Adding sales tax to your ballet, opera, musical, play, zoo, and museum tickets. At first glance, this doesn't seem so bad. Then, you realize who the state is leaving in exempt status - movie theaters and sporting events.

So our Pennsylvania tax dollars are subsidizing AMC Loews Theaters and Regal Entertainment Group - companies that make hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Our tax dollars are subsidizing the Heinz family and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Flyers (yet again). Yet the state house wants to take away this subsidy for the City Theater, for Bricolage, for Quantum Theater, for the Carnegie Museums, for the Pittsburgh Zoo, for all these arts companies barely staying afloat and enriching our lives in un-measurable ways. Ridiculous.

Perhaps next, we'll have a fee on withdrawing library books? And exempt the sales tax for Barnes and Noble?

Spray On

Am I the only one who can't wait for one of these new-fangled city spray parks to open up in my area? Currently, there is one in Troy Hill, with construction under way for a Beechview park. I think I can walk to the one planned for Beltzhoover. Adults can use them, right? I'm also proud to see the city investing money in some disadvantaged areas. They may not be re-opening any closed public pools, but they are replacing them with something fun and refreshing. Instead of cutting back on amenities, this is an example of a smart budgeting compromise where the city spends a lot less money than a traditional pool, but the neighborhoods still benefit.

Added bonus: Suburban Moms venturing into Troy Hill for the first time - and enjoying it. Now if only we can get Shady Side Moms to head there...

Stimulus Watch - Pittsburgh Style

When the stimulus money was released nation-wide, there were big promises that all the money spent would be publicized online in the intent to make us feel better about the billions that are being spent. Of course, you only actually feel better if someone actually looks up those websites.

So here we are: Stimulus money in Pittsburgh.

It's broken out into 6 categories, and I'll give an overview of each category.

1. Infrastructure & Economic Development
What's happening? This is by far the biggest piece of the pie. This breaks down into general infrastructure improvements, i.e. bridges and street-paving ($5 Million), Housing Authority money ($27 Million), demolishing vacant buildings ($4 Million), and money for sewer improvements ($17.8 Million).
Total: $53.8 Million
My Opinion: The general infrastructure improvements are clearly the bread and butter of the stimulus package. But general infrastructure improvements only make up 7% of the money here. I have to seriously question the huge allocation for the Housing Authority, especially given its recent pathetic audit performance.

2. Public Safety & Criminal Justice
What's happening? Technology, Equipment, Vehicles, Police Academy for the Pittsburgh Police
Total: $2.1 Million
My Opinion: Sounds to me like we're filling in normal budget shortfalls here, and the project notes are pretty minimal.

3. Energy Efficiency & Natural Resources
What's happening? Updating the City-County building for energy efficiency.
Total: $3.4 Million
My Opinion: I'm a little disappointed in this slice of the pie. This will affect one building in the city, but it will undoubtedly generate jobs and make that one building much better.

4. Workforce Development & Education
What's happening? Summer youth jobs, adult workforce development and adult training
Total: $3 Million
My Opinion: Creating jobs and helping put more people directly to work. I saw lots of signs around town recruiting for the summer youth jobs and they had a standard method for awarding those jobs fairly. This is a great example of stimulus spending.

5. Health & Social Services Safety Net
What's happening? Homelessness Prevention
Total: $6.8 Million
My Opinion: That's a lot of money for a broad description and no project notes. I think this one needs a closer watch. Seems like you could give an awful lot of people houses for $6.8 million. How many homeless people do we have in Pittsburgh?

6. Tax Credits & Fiscal Assistance
What's happening? NOTHING
Total: $0
My Opinion: Are we wasting potential money here?

Overall
What's happening? Clearly a lot.
Total: $69.1 Million
My Opinion: There definitely seems to be a combination of shooting low (tax credits, energy efficiency, general infrastructure), taking advantage of the system (housing authority) and band-aids for bad budgeting (police, sewers). A lot of good will come out of this for Pittsburgh. Plus, I give the city a bit of a break because there wasn't much time for planning on this. There's a clear lack of funding for public transportation options at this point, but I'm going to assume that falls at the county level. I also don't see anything to help out our ailing schools. Of course, not all of the stimulus money has been released yet. I'll keep watching.

Breaking News: Duplication in City Services

Yet another audit has emerged by my favorite controller, Michael Lamb. He says that there's waste in the Housing Authority and the city would save money by such measures as:

"The authority could use the city's computer backbone, purchase utilities jointly with the city and county, better collaborate with the city on public works and senior and youth services, and join the city's recycling program."

Seriously, the housing authority doesn't participate in the city's recycling program??? What novel ideas.

Why do I feel like every time Mr Lamb does an audit, he says a lot of the same things? Do all the authorities think they're unique? That it's okay for them to waste taxpayer money? These are basic tenets and every single authority in the city should be merging these basics. The city needs one tech support team, one billing department, and one account with utility companies.

There have been a lot of audits over the past year and I'd really like to start to see some results. I have a feeling that if all these audits were promptly responded to that the Act 47 problems would diminish.

Silver Lined Economic Clouds

Right now, at the state level, serious debates are occurring over funding for everything from entrepreneurial initiatives to arts programs to museums to public television. Almost daily, I get an email imploring me to contact my state representative and fight for money to save all of these valuable state donations.

Back in March, I read in the Post-Gazette that the Fort Pitt Museum was on the chopping block. They reported that the state spends $500,000 per year to run the museum. This month, many organizations have stepped up to say they can run the museum for half as much state funding, thus saving tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Why wasn't this done years ago? That's a serious question for which I would like someone to be accountable. But clearly, it took an economic crisis for us to rethink how our taxpayer money is spent. Maybe we need one of these crises every few years because our legislators can't be bothered to keep themselves in check.

I hope over the next month, as the state budget process unfolds, we find more of these public-private partnerships to save the state money and run our facilities more efficiently. (I'm sure someone can come up with an idea for the state liquor stores.) Making decisions which will save us money now and in the future will only help the city and state. It's just a shame that it takes a downturn for us to make some smart decisions.

Handicapped by the State

First of all, it's not a 5-year plan if it depends on changing the state legislature. When is the last time the state legislature changed a law for the benefit of Pittsburgh? Has it ever happened? Yet, "many of its most controversial tenets couldn't happen without changes in state law that only the General Assembly can make."

4 Ways To Break The Law (by Act 47)

1. The Act 47 planners want the city to (currently illegally) not lower the parking tax this year. In 2007, the mayor smartly vetoed when the city council decided to keep the parking tax high, largely because it was against state law. But also because a 40% parking tax rate is ridiculously high.

2. Additionally, Act 47 are depending on major concessions from the fireman's and other city unions. Major concessions that are currently illegal in the state.

3. The Act 47 planners want the city to both tax non-profits (also currently illegal under state law) AND increase donations from non-profits. Not going to happen.

4. Another idea is asking the state to allow us to change the municipal services tax from $52 / year ( a pathetic pittance) to $145 / year. By the way, by state law, this $52 must currently be deducted evenly through paychecks throughout the year. Sounds like it costs more to implement than it currently collects.

So the state-mandated group is recommending time and again to change state law in a 290 page report. And doesn't have any other solutions for us. How about we cut the state budget by Act 47 planners this year?

But ultimately, this plan shows how the state has handicapped the city of Pittsburgh through years and years of enacting restrictive laws. Is it any surprise that the city is in a fiscal crisis when the city of Pittsburgh literally can't decide how much to tax people who work and live in the city? When they try to come up with creative and questionable ways around these limitations (i.e. raising the parking tax to 50%), the state once again puts the smack-down.

Since, I've been living in Pittsburgh, our glorious leaders Onorato and Ravenstahl have been making frequent trips to beg Harrisburg for solutions to their problems, and these requests have fallen on deaf ears. Do we have to file for bankruptcy before Harrisburg listens?

On Scary State Taxes

I rarely talk too much about Pennsylvania state politics because they scare me. Our bloated and continuously corrupted state legislature is an indictment against democracy.

Today's recommendations being pondered by our esteemed state is raising the flat income tax from 3.07% to 4.07%. I have many reasons why I hope this idea is shot down as quickly as the suggestion to ban gay marriage. (ASAP)

1) Pennsylvania has a flat income tax. Any increase is an unjust burden on our poorer residents.
Only 8 states in the country have a flat income tax. 4% of your salary when you make $20,000 / year is a lot more important than when you make $100,000. Of course, in Pennsylvania, a graduated tax would require a change to the state constitution.

2) The Johnstown Flood Tax. If this year, the tax rate is increased to deal with a temporary problem, the tax will never be revoked. That's not a solution; it's merely a way to line state lawmaker's pockets in future years.

3) The reason that Pennsylvania (and every other state) is under budget this year is because people are making less money. And you want to tax them more? Now is the time to dig into a rainy day fund and make some cuts in programs that aren't necessary. How about those mandatory state legislature raises? Or how about some bloat in the legislature? I echo Brian O'Neil's call to reduce our inefficient state government long before increasing taxes on the populace. Or how about they sell all the state liquor stores as an infusion to the budget and privatize the selling of liquor? While they're at it, they can rename the Johnstown Flood tax to something that doesn't mock that tragedy.

Tread Lightly

Does Michael Lamb want to put the Pittsburgh Promise up for sale? He wants to ask the state assembly to tax non-profits in the city of Pittsburgh. (Why hasn't anyone done this before?) However, this is clearly a fine line to walk. UPMC is to Pittsburgh is like China is to the USA. We're indebted to them and vice-versa, but ultimately at this point, they hold a lot of the cards.

Over the next 10 years, UPMC, the region's uber-employer, has promised to donate a ton of money to the Pittsburgh Promise, but from the beginning they have been threatening to withhold their generous contributions if Pittsburgh pursues taxing non-profits. However, UPMC theoretically has the ability to pull its money out for any reason - the bad economy, sinking profits, a bad night's sleep. US Steel's recent pausing of work on the Clairton coke plant is as harsh a reminder as any that corporations often break promises. Taxes are a lot more reliable. And theoretically, there's nothing stopping the city redirecting tax money towards the Pittsburgh Promise. Of course, as long as Ravenstahl is in office, I expect any extra money to be diverted towards trash cans.

Opposites Attract

In a surprise move, Station Square announced yesterday that they had an investor to re-open the Chevrolet Amphitheater previously closed because of confusion over the new casino. How much is it costing to re-open this venue? $50,000. That's a far cry from the $12 Million entertainment complex being planned on the other side of the city.

The North Side hotel-entertainment-dining fiasco has caused a lot of grief among North Side residents, but Governor Rendell is almost begging to add $4 Million to their pot-of-plenty in spite of this mind-numbing recession. I expect he'll recommend legalizing and taxing prostitutes to pay for this project.

Certainly seems suspicious to me that Rendell is so eager to hop on-board this latest North Side boondoggle. Is it because of pay-to-play politics? Is it because he's distracting us from the truly evil deeds he's playing over in Philly? If anyone knows, I'm sure they've been paid off. But I'd sure feel better about it all if there was some reform in Harrisburg ala the GOP. Maybe then we can have realistic projects like the Chevy Amphitheater that add value to the city while not costing the region an arm and a leg. In the meantime, we'll be subsidizing Toby Keith's new restaurant.

Don't get me wrong. I believe the more venues/hotels/restaurants the better. Let the people decide. But I also believe that if you can't afford it, you shouldn't build it/buy it/rent it - unless of course you're giving major kickbacks to the residents and raising their quality of life. Now is the time for Rendell to listen to the North Side residents and insist on a landmark community benefits package ala the new arena.

How I Love Taxes

Trying to cut costs at the state level? How about this one? Charge inmates for toilet paper and soap.

Next, maybe state employees can pay for their toilet paper, too? And how about charging people $10 when they have jury duty? While we're at it, let's get rid of those pesky free defendant's attorneys.

Personally, I believe that if our society creates criminals then we need to pay for their attempted rehabilitation. While they may get free books in prison, they do not get a college education. When they leave prison, they should not be in debt for their years of servitude. They'll have a hard enough time finding a job.

If you want to be innovative with the budget, how about the criminals monitor the new legalized video gambling machines? We can pay them 72 cents per day for staring at the computer. While we're at it, let's take Pgh Comet's suggestion and legalize table gambling at the casinos to get them off our backs about video poker. Though I think Las Vegas has proved time and again that gambling addicts can support however many slots machines you give them.

While we're at it, why don't we legalize some drugs that the inmates can package up for us, and we can tax them?

And how did the tobacco lobbyists pull this one off? Only state in the nation with no tax on chewing tobacco and one of the few with no tax on cigars? Heck, my tobacco-naive self was under the impression that cigars were basically cigarettes and that the two were taxed equivalently. Silly me.

Seriously, Mr Rendell, I don't care how you make the money, just as long as you don't introduce the 10% 2009 Emergency Budget-Filling Tax on alcohol that stays on the books for the next hundred years. How's Johnstown doing these days?

Less Than $20 Million

According to the Steelers and VisitPittsburgh, the home AFC championship game should bring in $20 million to the city on Sunday. That's on top of the $18 million for last week's game.

And how much extra are these games adding to the drink tax coffers alone? I'm going to make an educated guess and say that if you take the drink tax profits from Steelers Sundays, that alone will easily land you $1 Million per year.

The North Shore Connector is costing the county 3.33% of its total cost - or about $15 million. Even if it balloons to a $600 million project, that's still less than $20 million in local funds.

Don't you think a new subway line is worth 1 home Steelers championship game?

I can go over the Port Authority spiel that this paves the way for future T lines. Or that this will add yet another fringe parking area alleviating traffic and parking woes downtown. Or that this will encourage more development on the North Side which needs some help right about now.

But instead I'll tell you why I think it's not a horrible idea.

When out-of-towners or former Pittsburghers come back to visit in droves, it's for one of two things. The holidays and Steelers games.

Theoretically, we want to give these people a good impression. We want them to think their city is improving. We want them to go back to where they live and say good things about Pittsburgh. We want them to tell their friends, so that when they get a job offer and they're deciding between Houston, Texas and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they remember that they heard Pittsburgh was sweet. They choose Pittsburgh.

How do we impress these people? We give them slick public transportation where they're going to use it. To the Steelers game and to the airport. Assuming this risky bet works, then those people will get up and move here. Then we'll have some money in our pockets and we can do more practical less flashy things like actually get people between Oakland and Downtown.

And all for less than $20 million.

But the most important thing to realize is that this is just a piece of the puzzle. If we actually want a world-class transportation system (which we do, right?), then this is a necessary piece of that puzzle. Might as well build it first if we have the money and it can attract and impress some people. We just can't stop here. I don't care if it takes another 50-100 years. (I have faith that Pittsburgh and this country will still be around then.) But we need to keep building and planning and thinking big and we will get there.

Mincing Words

The headline of the day:

Pittsburgh to use 45.3 Million Surplus for Debt

This article was found on not 1, not 2, not 3, but at least 4 sources.

Was this a public relations stunt promoted by the ICA to encourage Dowd to shut up? Why do so many people care about Pittsburgh's surplus last year? And how can you use a "surplus" for debt? Doesn't being head-over-heels in debt mean that there is no such thing as a "surplus"?

Let me put this in Joe Six-Pack terms.
When you get a Christmas-bonus, which do you do:
a) buy a flat-screen TV?
b) use it as a down-payment for your $400,000 McMansion summer home?
c) put it toward your high-interest credit card debt?

If you're Joe, you choose option a) or b) and you plunge our economy into a recession. If you're smart, you choose option c), and live to borrow another day.

Let's hear it for the news media advertising that Pittsburgh is choosing option c).

Though as I hear it, are we?

Silver Linings

As of the latest city budget pronouncement, our city pension fund contained $330 million at the mid-year instead of the necessary $890 million. The market has since plummeted. What's the silver lining here? Let's assume a standard 20% level of loss. That's $66 million. If we'd had the necessary amount, we would have lost $178 million instead.

As Warren Buffett has said: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." The market is fearful right now.

I encourage the city to take Warren Buffet's advice and invest as much as possible in the pension fund right now. The market is most certainly not at its bottom, but it is at a relative bottom. If we can invest now, and the market recovers over the next year, we'll be in a better position than we've been in a decade. It hurts to lose money in the stock market. It hurts more to just continue to keep losing because of poor planning.

The Bus Stops Here

With the Port Authority's on-going labor negotiations and cost-cutting measures, I wasn't surprised to learn that buses are being reduced on the far-off traffic-congested route to the Century III Mall. Personally, it's a route I avoid because of the traffic.

Unfortunately, the reason the bus connections to the mall are being reduced isn't to save money, it's to reduce "number of people who basically loaf and spend little money." Naturally, malls are privately-owned for-profit companies that care about their bottom line. They can choose who they want on their premises unlike public property. However, this mall also serves as a branch for the Armed Forces Recruiting Center, a Goodwill store, and Phase 4 Learning Center - an alternative high school diploma program for at-risk youth. Maybe some of these loafers are kids who are walking around debating whether to join the army. Or maybe these loafers are looking for jobs. Or maybe these loafers are working on their homework. Whatever the case, these service-oriented organizations probably won't last long at the mall anyways. I'm sure the rent will get raised to make way for the new American Eagle Aerie. Hopefully, their new locations will be more bus-accessible. Shame on Port Authority to bending to the wishes of the mall.

Let it be known: Loafing at the mall is a time-honored tradition practiced by millions of teenagers every Saturday. If loafing was going to be the demise of mall-dom as we know it, it would have happened a long time ago.

In the meantime, if Century III Mall wants to increase the quality of its patrons experience and the likelihood of their patrons spending money, I suggest an entry-fee, more security personnel, and/or incentives to spend money.

(reference: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08309/925246-100.stm)

What a Surprise?

With prices of asphalt and dirt skyrocketing, it's really no surprise that the North Shore Connector mega-project is coming in over budget. With $700 BILLION federal bailout plans and $18 BILLION in earmarks making the news daily, we've become de-sensitized to a paltry sum like $15 million. Of course, even if the budget for the connector comes in at 10% higher than planned or $43.5 million, we have a long ways to go to "keep up with the Jones'" over in Boston. Their Big Dig came in almost $10 BILLION over budget or 250%.

Now, where is the media pressure for the transit union talks? This North Shore Connector won't be going anywhere in 2011 or any time if there's no one to drive the train.

(reference: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08290/920282-147.stm)

What next?

Green boats, green cars, what will they think of next? Green airplanes and trains? How about a light rail to the airport or an express train to Harrisburg??

Surely, we live in interesting times. Hopefully, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County can capitalize on them.

In other news, how's Port Authority's budget doing now? Just one bus, the 33X had an increase in ridership of 80% in June. The way I see it, that's a $60,000 (an extra $2 per ride at 1450 riders per week-day) bonus for June. If the lines for the buses downtown at rush hour are any indication of ridership, I believe that statistic. Hopefully, we can turn around and use this impetus to get some solid planning in for the future benefit of Port Authority. Speaking of which, everybody (all 1 of you), should visit and contribute to the pghwiki.

(reference: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08227/904188-53.stm)