The Port Authority has asked Allegheny County for $9.9 million to leverage more state and federal funds for improvements, but county Executive Dan Onorato said the agency will be given $6.3 million for capital improvements and "not one penny more."

He made the declaration during a somewhat angry reaction to an authority discussion about having insufficient money for such things as replacing buses, buying information technology programs, repairing tracks and keeping the busways in good shape.

"I've been telling them to get their house in order and they're not getting it," Mr. Onorato said during an interview. "They shouldn't be doing capital projects we can't afford and that don't make sense, like the [2,200-space] parking garage at South Hills Village."

The funding issue came up at an authority committee meeting on Friday, when staff disclosed a collective $23.8 million has been borrowed over the past 10 years or so to provide the "local share" of money for capital improvements. The authority borrowed the money when the county turned down requests to pay the local funding share.

If it were to spend $9.9 million this year but the county provides only $6.3 million, the cumulative unfunded debt would climb to $27.4 million and continue to exacerbate the problem.

"They have to start living within their means," Mr. Onorato said. "I've told them they can't continue to borrow and obligate us to debt we haven't approved. They're getting not one penny more beyond what we budget and they better get used to it."

The fiscal 2008-09 capital budget of $241.8 million, which includes money for the light-rail extension to the North Shore, is separate from the $350.3 million operating budget, from which Mr. Onorato is withholding $27.7 million in county drink and car rental tax money until the authority cuts costs, increases efficiency and achieves labor agreements that reduce costs for health care and retirement.

For most capital projects, the local share requires 3.33 percent in order to qualify for matching shares of 16.67 percent from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and 80 percent from the Federal Transit Administration.

"They see more money, they want to grab it. That practice has to stop," Mr. Onorato said.

Mr. Onorato was particularly unhappy with former Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas, who resigned in September 2005. In Mr. Skoutelas' last year, for example, the Port Authority borrowed $5 million as part of the local share for capital improvements when it received only $2 million from the county, adding $5 million to long-term debt.

Steve Bland, the current CEO, said the debt and the lack of more capital funding limit the authority's ability to maintain and expand assets.

"The capital budget hasn't been quite as visible, but it's becoming just as critical as the [separately funded] operating budget," he said. "We'll soon have nothing left for preventive maintenance or replacing buses."

The authority has been meeting about half of its local share requirement for capital budget spending through borrowing that dates to the administration of the county's first executive, Jim Roddey, and has continued under Mr. Onorato.

When Mr. Onorato took office, the borrowing in lieu of county matching money amounted to $8.3 million. Since then, it has almost tripled to the $23.8 million figure.

"We will not honor debt under the previous administration" of Mr. Skoutelas, Mr. Onorato said. "I warned them about it and they borrowed anyhow. We won't back it up."

He said the $6.3 million the county will provide this year represents more than any previous year.

The county has anted up $5.2 million in each of the past two years, and never more than $4 million before then.

Port Authority is scheduled to pay $43.1 million for debt service this year, including bonds issued for bus purchases and the second stage of the light-rail project that resulted in rebuilding the Overbrook line.

Mr. Onorato said he's also not willing to meet past debt obligations out of a $16 million-to-$18 million expected surplus from the first year of the 10 percent drink tax and $2-a-day car rental tax.

He continues to withhold $27.7 million from the two taxes that are intended to subsidize the authority's operating budget, an action that could render the agency unable to secure other matching money from the state and shut down bus-trolley service about two months from now.

Mr. Onorato has vowed to sit tight until and unless the 2,300-member Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union agrees to a new labor contract that reduces costs associated with early retirements, lifetime health care and long-term pension payments.

The union rejected recommendations of a fact-finder that would have become the basis for a new contract on Sept. 12. Both sides have resumed negotiations before a state mediator. Union members continue to work under terms of the former contract that expired June 30.