On Allegheny County Council’s agenda for tomorrow evening is a presentation of the 2018 fiscal plan and operating budget. In the County’s Home Rule Charter (VII,2,b) the Chief Executive is required to “…appear before County Council to present the budget message and submit the comprehensive fiscal plan no later than 75 days before the end of each fiscal year”.
The Charter likewise requires the County Manager to prepare the comprehensive fiscal plan and it must include a two-year projected operating budget and a five year capital improvement plan. In 2017’s fiscal plan the operating budget was a recommended $880 million; in the two year forecast the coming fiscal year was projected at $897 million, or 2% above the proposed budget for 2017. The year after next was forecast at 2% above 2018.
Currently the County’s budget has five operating funds: general, debt, liquid fuels (money from gas tax remitted to local governments for road maintenance), transit support (taxes on liquor and rental cars that goes to the Port Authority for the local match) and infrastructure support (the $5 local use fee add on to auto registrations for roads).
