Gov. Ed Rendell came to town last week to prod a roomful of senior citizens to call their legislators and ask them to legalize slot machines at racetracks.
That's part of the governor's plan to reduce property taxes and improve our schools. "Slots for Tots," I like to call it.
I'm not against the move. Shoot, I'd expand it. Every argument Rendell made for keeping gambling money in Pennsylvania applies to the poker machines paying off in bars within walking distance of his speech. Legalize the payoffs and tax them.
Face it, we are a gambling culture. One need only look to Mayor Tom Murphy, who bet his entire budget on the Legislature approving new ways to raise millions of dollars in taxes in Pittsburgh.
"You are on a roll in this city," Rendell kept telling the seniors and the media.
But I couldn't help noticing we were on Mount Washington, and so was a little concerned about the direction we might be rolling.
If Murphy's gamble doesn't pay off in Harrisburg, the city's bankruptcy becomes a better than even bet. In my mind's eye, I imagine Murphy going to the great casino that is the state Capitol building and rolling the dice. Like the rest of Pennsylvania's cities, Pittsburgh is stuck with 19th-century boundaries in a 21st-century economy. People don't live where they work anymore, but cities still need to pay the cops and firefighters who protect everyone 9-to-5 and at playtime.
So Murphy goes to the table and rolls his arguments.
The $10 annual occupancy tax hasn't been raised since 1965.
Almost half the businesses in Pittsburgh, including this newspaper, are exempt from business privilege taxes because of historical exemptions.
Too many of the city's employers -- the hospitals, the universities, the nonprofits -- pay no property taxes. So Murphy suggests a payroll preparation tax of one-half of 1 percent to spread the tax burden.
There are other possibilities, such as a 10 percent tax on poured booze, but not every request will be approved. Nor should they. The city doesn't need that much money. But the bottom line is, as Rendell said, "Pittsburgh cannot cut its way out of its problems."
The tax base is too narrow. The city's aging population of 335,000 simply can't pay much more in wage and property taxes to support the city that grows to more than 600,000 every workday and school day.
Murphy has no easy task getting anything through Harrisburg. An ex-legislator himself, this Democrat has burned a lot of bridges, and the Legislature is controlled by Republicans.
But Murphy has Rendell. The governor can do favors for the legislators who do favors for him.
Murphy has plans to merge the firefighters and paramedics to save millions of dollars, but suburban legislators are going to want to make sure the city is really cutting all it can before it approves anything. That's where a state-appointed Financial Review Board could come in.
That board would make the city comply with annual and five-year budget plans. It also would require arbitrators, historically generous to police and firefighters, to consider the city's finances when deciding contracts. That could be huge.
What's interesting as we watch the game unfold is who has to be rooting for Murphy as he comes to the table. Joe King, head of the firefighters union and a longtime foil of the mayor, has to favor a broader tax base. The city's bankruptcy would mean the end of fat contracts.
Suburban legislators, though occupying some of the safest seats in America, have never seemed that interested in the city where so many of their constituents earn their bread. But none want a dirtier, more crime-ridden city in the region's core, either.
Pennsylvania's cities are all hurting. It's past time for the state to pay attention. If nothing is done, the problems will feed on themselves, more people will leave the city and the tax base will shrink further. The biggest gamble is doing nothing at all.
Brian O'Neill can be reached at boneill@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1947.
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