The Urban Redevelopment Authority costs Pittsburgh valuable tax revenue by holding on to some properties too long, then selling too many to nontaxable entities.

On top of that, the agency does not keep an accurate inventory of its properties, according to a new audit by the city controller's office.

"How are you going to speculate on land and development if you really don't know what you own?" asked Deputy Controller Anthony Pokora.

Mr. Pokora also wonders why the URA has held onto properties for 30 years or longer, paying for insurance and maintenance.

"They need to develop criteria and they need to develop some standards to decide when it is time to get rid of a piece of property," he said.

Jerome Dettore, URA's executive director, acknowledged the authority is still working on a database record of its properties. In some cases, it is dealing with paper records dating to the 1950s and '60s, he said.

But he takes exception to the other slaps, saying URA has increased the city's property tax revenues by $8.7 million a year.

"They really have a lack of understanding of the real estate development market in Pittsburgh," said Mr. Dettore. "Pittsburgh is not a growth region. People are not standing in line to buy and build real estate."

Mr. Pokora said 85 of the 203 properties sold between 1995 and 2005 went to tax-exempt buyers.

Mr. Dettore countered that some of the biggest sales to nontaxable buyers, such as the parcels for SouthSide Works and the UPMC sports complex, generate "the full equivalent of taxes" in annual compensation payments.

The report also scolds URA for poor maintenance of the lots and buildings it owns. Mr. Pokora said his office saw little improvement even six months after more than 60 buildings and 80 lots were found to be substandard.

"I think they take on too much," he said. "I don't think they have enough staff to do the proper maintenance."

Mr. Dettore responded that "the great part" of those properties were previously held by tax-delinquent owners in poor neighborhoods.

"We are assessing them to market them, and we will ultimately get them developed," he said.

Mr. Pokora and Mr. Dettore even disagree on how many properties URA owns -- the assistant city controller says it has 1,800, while the URA chief says it's closer to 1,400.

The URA "has done a lot of good things for the city," said Mr. Pokora. "They just need to sit down and make some rules and regulations to follow for buying and holding onto properties."