Plan includes $7 million in property tax reductions

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

By Jeffrey Cohan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Council unanimously approved a $655 million operating budget for 2004 last night, balancing $7 million in property tax cuts with belt-tightening throughout the government.

Council also approved a $33 million capital budget that gives Port Authority officials only $2 million of the $8.4 million they requested for new buses and transit projects.

Homeowners can look forward to a $70.35 tax break next year in the form of a homestead exemption, a 50 percent improvement upon this year's $46.90 tax cut. The homestead exemption will cost the county almost $20 million in lost revenue in 2004, compared to $13 million this year.

Senior citizens in the Act 77 program will see their discount on county property taxes grow from 25 percent to 30 percent next year, tacking an extra $500,000 or so onto the county's losses, according to Wayne Fontana, council's budget chairman.

Most county departments and row offices saw their allocations reduced by 3 percent to pay for the sweetened tax breaks, which county Chief Executive-elect Dan Onorato has characterized as a down payment on his campaign promise to cut taxes by $24 million.

The budget reflected a compromise between the Democrat-controlled council and departing Chief Executive Jim Roddey, a Republican.

In late-game negotiations, Roddey convinced council Democrats that they had double-counted $1.5 million in sheriff's office revenue. As a result, the Democrats agreed to eliminate a $2.1 million contingency fund they had proposed to cover unbudgeted expenditures over the course of 2004.

"I'd like to praise ... Jim Roddey for his cooperation," said Councilman Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill.

While the 2004 budgets sailed to unanimous approval, council members tangled over a package of $2.4 million in fund transfers needed to close the books for this year.

About two-thirds of that money will go to Democrat-controlled row offices that exceeded their 2003 budget allocations. Most of the money comes from the county's Kane nursing homes, which did not have as many residents as expected this year.

Some Republican council members argued that the transfers will reward row officers for going over budget.

"It makes a mockery of this council and the [2003] budget we passed," said Councilman Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park. "It's almost like putting the money into a black hole."

But Councilman C.L. "Jay" Jabbour, D-West Mifflin, defended the transfers as "just a formality to put the books in order" and challenged Gastgeb's assertion.

"How do you know we didn't underbudget these [row offices] in the first place and therefore they didn't overspend?" Jabbour said.

Council ended up approving the transfers in a 10-4 vote, with four of the six Republican members in opposition.

In one final bit of 2003 budget business, council approved $14 million in additional expenditures and revenues. Most of the extra money came from the state and federal governments.

The additional $14 million bumped the total of the 2003 operating budget to $666 million, or $11 million more than next year's spending plan.

Consternation ran high last night among council members and public transit advocates over the relatively paltry allocation of capital funds to the Port Authority.

Council gave the authority $6.1 million in capital funds this year, but couldn't find anywhere near that amount in next year's $33 million capital budget, which also pays for maintenance and repair of county-owned roads, bridges, parks and buildings.

Because the federal and state governments provide the Port Authority with more than $15 for every $1 of local matching funds, the $6.4 million shortfall in the county's 2004 allocation will deprive the transit agency of $107 million.

"We're very concerned," Port Authority spokesman Bob Grove said after last night's meeting.

Grove said the authority hasn't decided which projects and purchases will be curtailed as a result of the funding squeeze.

The authority has budgeted $130 million in capital expenditures. Because it operates on a July-through-June fiscal year, the full effect of the county-caused shortfall will not be felt in the current budget.

Councilman Charles Martoni, a Port Authority board member, wants to increase the county's capital budget at some point next year, in part to help out the transit agency.

"[The $33 million capital budget] is a puny amount of money for a county this big," said Martoni, D-Swissvale.

"I think our capital budget is too small," agreed Councilman Dave Fawcett, R-Oakmont.

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