Twenty-two years ago, Tom Corbett voted for a 20 percent property tax increase as a township commissioner in Shaler. That, argued fellow gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato, should raise red flags about the Republican's ability to balance the state's $28 billion budget.

The Corbett campaign called Mr. Onorato's claim "a desperate act by a desperate candidate."

The Allegheny County executive called a news conference in front of the Shaler municipal building to assail Mr. Corbett over the long-ago property tax vote and remind voters that he never approved such a tax increase as Allegheny County executive or as a Pittsburgh City Council member in the 1990s.

"Now the voters are going to see 'Who is this guy who says he can balance budgets?' Well guess what? He had a chance to do it, and he shows us his true colors. He votes for property tax increases. That's what he believes in, and I don't," Mr. Onorato said.

Mr. Corbett was briefly a Shaler commissioner before being appointed U.S. Attorney for the state's Western District in 1989. In December 1988, he joined three other Republicans in voting to raise the millage rate from 10 to 12 mills to balance the township's $5.7 million 1989 budget. The 20 percent increase was the biggest in a decade in Shaler, and was largely enacted to pay for road repair and new police facilities at the municipal building, recalled David Shutter, a 24-year member of the township board.

"In Dan Onorato's record as a career politician, he never met a tax that he didn't like or didn't hike," responded the Corbett camp's spokesman Kevin Harley. "Dan Onorato's latest negative attack is a desperate act by a desperate candidate. If he's so concerned about taxes, then he should join Tom Corbett in signing a no-new-tax pledge. Given his record, that's unlikely."

The Democrat repeated his refusal to sign such a pledge, saying his record as county executive speaks for itself.

"I'm a man of my word -- I don't have to sign pledges. And I've delivered: six balanced budgets, on time, without raising property taxes," he said.

The Corbett campaign noted Mr. Onorato's record of raising other taxes, however, most notably the 10 percent county drink tax enacted in January 2008 (and later reduced to 7 percent). It also detailed a raft of revenue increases he supported going back to his debut on Pittsburgh City Council in 1992, including hikes in parking taxes and swimming pool and occupational privilege fees.

For the Onorato camp, the attack on the Shaler property tax vote underscores its regular argument that the Democrat has more hands-on experience with running a major government body than his Republican foe. It also dovetails with the campaign's criticisms of Mr. Corbett's oversight of spending by the Attorney General's office, which has increased during his time in office.

Mr. Corbett has argued that extra state funding was necessary to cover programs such as drug task forces and child predator units.

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