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Legislating Regional Asset District spending called dangerous precedent
Wednesday, March 14, 2001 By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Dan Griffin doesn't want state legislators telling the Allegheny County Regional Asset District how to spend its money.
Griffin, chairman of the seven-member RAD board, said yesterday that a funding proposal by state Rep. Ralph Kaiser, D-Brentwood, would set a terrible precedent.
Kaiser plans to introduce a bill in the Legislature to force the RAD board, a city-county agency, to provide $350,000 a year for the next five years to the Pittsburgh Film Office. Kaiser sits on the board of directors of the film office, which is in danger of running out of money after this year.
But Kaiser's idea irks Griffin. "I think the film office is a great organization and does a lot for our economy, but that doesn't mean it should get funding through forced legislation," he said.
"If that is allowed to happen, I expect everybody would have a friend who's a legislator and would get money earmarked through state legislation," Griffin said.
Kaiser's plan "would open up a Pandora's box," he added. "There would be no need to have a RAD board. We'd just be sending out checks, with no discretionary power."
Every December the RAD board approves a spending package for the following year. The 2001 budget is nearly $76 million. Most of the money comes from the county's 1 percent sales tax.
The RAD board gives funds to nearly 100 organizations, including city and county libraries, city and county parks and numerous arts and cultural organizations. It also provides money for improvements to Mellon Arena and $13.4 million a year to pay off nearly $200 million in bonds that were sold to help finance the new baseball and football stadiums.
Kaiser is trying to help the film office, which is facing serious money problems. Last year it lost its major source of funding -- revenue from the county's 7 percent tax on hotel/motel rooms. That revenue was redirected to pay off the bonds that were sold to build the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
The film office is getting nearly $200,000 this year from two different state agencies, but it could be out of money next year. If it has to shut down, Kaiser said, "The momentum won't be there to open it up again."
He wants to require the RAD board to provide a reliable, predictable source of income for the film office. Its job is to attract movies to shoot in Pittsburgh, such as the recent "Wonder Boys" with Michael Douglas and "The Mothman Prophecies" with Richard Gere, now being filmed.
Film office director Dawn Keezer said her group has helped contribute $228 million to the regional economy since 1994 by attracting filmmakers to southwestern Pennsylvania.
County Chief Executive Jim Roddey asked the RAD board last September for money for the film office, but no funds were included in the 2001 RAD budget.
RAD board members said the film office can apply again this year. Four of the board members are named by Roddey, with two others named by Mayor Tom Murphy and the seventh member chosen by the first six.
RAD budget requests are collected from various organizations over the summer, with hearings held on each request in September. A preliminary budget is adopted in early October and a final budget approved in December.
Griffin said there is one major objection to the RAD board giving money directly to the film office. He said the office is an economic development organization, and RAD funds aren't meant to go to such groups.
If the film office is funded, Griffin said, there would be nothing to stop the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau and other local economic development groups from seeking RAD funds.
That would go against the concept of the RAD, which was created in 1994 to help fund arts and cultural groups, parks and libraries and sports venues like Three Rivers Stadium and Mellon Arena, he said. There is already strong competition between arts and cultural groups for RAD funding each year.
Griffin said a better idea would be for some department of city or county government to fund the film office, and then that agency would ask RAD for money for a special arts-related event. He said RAD already helps out the city and county parks departments with annual contributions for the four regional parks within Pittsburgh and the nine large parks in the county.
He said a RAD subcommittee is now working to determine eligibility requirements for groups that get RAD funds.
Kaiser thinks that RAD could easily find $350,000 a year for the film office. He said it could come out of the existing RAD reserve fund of about $20 million.
But Griffin said that fund is a "rainy day" cash reserve. He said that cash must be kept on hand to fund the current 100 or so organizations if the economy slows down, consumers buy fewer things and revenues from the sales tax drop.
He said that's already beginning to happen. He said RAD sales tax revenues for January were lower than they were for January 2000, which could be the sign of an economic slowdown that would lower the amount of money RAD has to spend.
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