Policy Briefs

Assessing the Chief Assessor Parking Tax Ruckus in Pittsburgh City Property Tax Revenues Not Growing The Undermining of Madison’s Competing Factions Principle Making Sense of The 2007 Tax Foundation State Business Tax Climate Index Another Useless Ranking Pittsburgh’s Stalled Wage Tax Receipts Making Pennsylvania’s Business Tax Climate Competitive Pittsburgh Job Growth Soft: Complaints Loud and Misplaced Assessment Ball in Court’s Court Lessons From Charlotte That Pittsburgh Refuses to Learn Labor Force Slipping in the Pittsburgh Region Minimum Wage, Maximum Pandering Union Membership Levels and Job Growth in U.S. Metro Areas Eating and Drinking in the Pittsburgh Region Reducing Property Taxes Overly Powerful Public Sector Unions Pittsburgh’s 2006 Budget Revenues from Pittsburgh’s New Tax Structure A Minimum Wage Reality Check They’re Still Leaving Allegheny County Base Year Assessments: Bad Policy, Bad Court Decision Boston and Pittsburgh: Who Knew? A Much Better Plan B Dueling Casinos A Dose of Reality for City Council Lots of State Spending But Few Jobs No Sale on City-County Purchasing Agreement Overhyped Pennsylvania Jobs Numbers Bargain Basement Price for Slot Machine Licenses Pennsylvania Should Adopt Tax and Spend Limits Talk is Cheap-Good Policy is Hard Pittsburgh Should Learn from Act 47 Graduates Assessment Angst: The Never Ending Story Act 47 Must Curb Pittsburgh's Workers Comp Costs Casino Fantasy Clueless in Pittsburgh Public Sector Unions Are Hobbling Pittsburgh A More Sensible Direction for Pittsburgh Terminate the Stadium Authority South Side Works: A Progress Report Are City Tax Revenues Falling Short? Chains Around the Cradle of Liberty City-County Merger Unnecessary and Undesirable Property Assessments: Lessons From Butler County Caps Are Out: Now What? Pittsburgh's Taxing Situation Decision Time in Allegheny County Five Steps to Reliable Assessments Cold Water for Overheated Merger Rhetoric Impact of Assessment Cap Scheme on Downtown Tax Base Rethinking Industry Recruitment Assessment Cap: Good Politics, Poor Policy 2006 Assessments: Much Better Than Existing Assessments Addressing the Imbalance in Act 111 Reassessment Controversy: Doing the Right Thing Cooling Down Fire Bureau Spending Note to Pittsburgh Tax Collectors 2004: A Turnaround Year for Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh's New Business Tax Structure: Who Pays? Council Balks at Bailout Legislators Weigh In On City Finances Reassessment Heartburn on the Way Parking Authority: Time Expired Budget Tomfoolery Pittsburgh Commuter Tax: Bad Idea Pittsburgh Must Help Itself Dilatory Tactics in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania's Property Tax Reform: A Mixed Bag A Benchmark City for Pittsburgh to Emulate County Council Considers Compulsory Unionization Time for the Stadium Authority to Help the City City Workers Must Face Facts Legislature Gets Unhelpful Advice Dramatic Lessons From New Zealand Opportunity Costs--A Lesson Not Learned Pittsburgh Has A Severe Spending Problem City Use of County Services: Tax-Base Sharing, Part I Pittsburgh Taxes--Too High and Too Many Pittsburgh's Parking Tax Will Not Solve Spending Problem The Dark Side of Distressed Status for Pittsburgh New Study Misses the Point Distressed...or Just Irresponsible? Time to Make Hard Spending Choices Pittsburgh's Financial Crisis: What the State Should Do Loosening the Grip of Binding Arbitration A Solid Plan to Cut Government Spending Pittsburgh's Population Plunge Persists Public Safety Spending: Hazardous to Pittsburgh's Fiscal Health Public Sector Unions and Presidential Voting A No Tax Plan for Pittsburgh State Contemplating TIFs Power to the People Taking Care of Business Eliminating Exemptions? Not So Fast A Market Solution for the City's Deficit Woes Cincinnati Chagrin Unions Detrimental to Job Gains No Case for New Taxes in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Wears The Union Label Successful Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Borrowing Our Way To Prosperity: Lessons Not Learned 2003: Time to Give Freedom a Chance Business Must Fight Higher Taxes Government Spending Absurdity Pittsburgh Taxes: A Clearer Picture Commuters and Visitors Benefit Pittsburgh Finances Pittsburgh's Losing Gamble Putting the Brakes on the Car Rental Tax Alternatives to a Car Rental Tax in Allegheny County Mt. Lebanon: Let the Blighters Beware Regional Money Pits The Stadiums That Didn't Save Pittsburgh Another Case of Misguided Policy Good Intentions Gone Awry Authorities--Those Independent Units of Government A New Foundation for Urban Redevelopment Pittsburgh School Taxes: A Different Look The Strange Case of Upscale Blight Liberal Think Tank All Wet on Business Taxes Is Pittsburgh 'Short-Sighted'? Blighting of America's Founding Principles Spending Our Way to Prosperity Is A Bad Investment Bad Schools are Government's Failure to Keep Faith Tax Increment Foolishness Pittsburgh's Being Spun So Hard It's Starting To Unravel Did Pittsburgh Give the Store Away? Gambling For Education? Not A Sure Bet Four Steps for Improving Allegheny County Assessments What's Wrong With Pittsburgh's Resume? City Council Sidesteps Living Wage Fallout New Convention Center Faces Intense Competition The Capital Stock and Franchise Tax Issue: It's All About Attitudes Regional Asset District Now Outspending Tax Revenues As Mission Creeps Playoff Hoopla: A Tale Of Two Cities Prevailing Wages: Costly and Unnecessary Redistricting Allegheny County Style Pittsburgh Needs to Rethink Living Wage Government Mandated Wages: A Shackle on Economic Growth Living Wage: A Guarantee of Future Budget Crisis Living Wage Bill Threatens Allegheny County Thanksgiving Thoughts Proposals To Raise City Taxes Not Amusing Are Employee Residency Requirements Appropriate? The Federal Government Has A Role In Shaping Airline Industry Future Allegheny County's Reapportionment: Raw Partisanship Slow Economy Calls for Good Local Policies These Naysayers Wish to Renew Their Offensive A Recipe for Relieving Wage Earner Burdens Allegheny County Living Wage: An Irresponsible Power Grab Taxes, Crude Oil and Volatile Gasoline Prices Lessons Pennsylvania Could Learn From Colorado School Tax Reform a Critical Issue for State, This Region Pennsylvania Needs Open Competition Raising the Roof on Hotel Subsidies Lessons Pittsburgh Could Learn From Charlotte Pittsburgh Living Wage: Empty, Feel Good Symbolism Sooner or Later Pittsburgh's Real Problems Must Be Addressed LAZARUS: More Bad News for Taxpayers

Government and Taxes

Hardcopies of all reports can be obtained by contacting the Allegheny Institute. Pittsburgh's 2007 Budget: Few Signs of Recovery: Report # 06-04 Available Online Pennsylvania’s Business Tax Climate: Current Competitive Issues and Prospects for Reform: Report # 06-03 Available Online A Blueprint for the New Mayor of Pittsburgh: Report # 05-07 Available Online Leaving Distressed Status: Lessons from Municipalities in Allegheny County: Report # 05-06 Available Online Merging Governments: Lessons from Louisville, Indianapolis, and Philadelphia: Report # 05-04 Available Online Addressing the Imbalance in Pennsylvania's Act 111: Report # 05-02 Available Online The Upcoming Property Reassessment: What to Expect: Report # 04-06 Available Online A Benchmark City for Pittsburgh to Emulate: Report # 04-05 Available Online Pittsburgh's Finances: A Comparison with Northern and 'Rust Belt' Cities: Report # 04-04 Available Online Recruiting Immigrants: A Solution in Search of a Problem: Report # 04-03 Available Online Pittsburgh Finances: A Comparison of Peer Group Cities: Report # 04-01 Available Online Unionism and Economic Performance: Pennsylvania and Peer States: Report # 03-01 Available Online Tax-Exempt Property in the City of Pittsburgh: 1993-2003: Report # 03-01 Available Online Attracting and Retaining Urban Residents: Some Lessons From Pittssburgh Neighborhoods: Report # 02-12 Available Online Pittsburgh's Pension Plan: The Black Hole That Won't Go Away: Report # 02-11 Available Online The Case for Reining in Governmental Authorities: Report # 02-10 Available Online Parking in the Golden Triangle: How Pittsburgh Compares to Similar Cities: Report # 02-09 Available Online Allegheny County Assessments: Problems and Recommendations: Report # 02-05 Available Online Pittsburgh's New Convention Center in the National Context: Report # 02-03 Available Online Prevailing Wages: Costly to State and Local Taxpayers: Report # 02-02 Available Online Residency Requirements: A Case of Politics Over Economics: Report # 01-06 Available Online River Dredging: An Important Industry in Western Pennsylvania: Report # 01-05 Available Online An Analysis of the Demand for Taxicabs in the Pittsburgh Area: Report # 01-01 Available Online Implications of Property Tax Reform in Allegheny County: Report # 00-10 Row Office Professionalism and Accountability: A Comparative Study: Report # 00-09 Available Online Why Living Wage is Wrong for Allegheny County: Report # 00-08 Available Online Universal Tuition Tax Credits: Report # 00-07 Available Online Westmoreland County: Competitive-Contracting Options and Fiscal Situation: Report # 00-04 Scared Yellow: An Analysis of Taxicab Competition in Allegheny County: Report # 00-03 Available Online A Tale of Two Cities: Pittsburgh Then and Now: Report # 99-18 Available Online Dauphin County: Fiscal Situation and Privatization/Competitive-Contracting Options: Report # 99-16 Available Online Ethics Code for Allegheny County: Report # 99-15 Available Online Eminent Domain Code for Allegheny County: Report # 99-14 Available Online Prison Privatization in Pennsylvania: The Delaware County Case: Report # 99-09 Available Online The Dismal Record of Public Housing in Pittsburgh: Report # 99-08 A Primer on Tax Increment Financing: Report # 99-06 Available Online 21 Steps Public Officials Can Take to Support Pittsburgh's Police: Report # 99-05 Available Online Welfare to Work in PA: A Progress Report: Report # 99-04 Economic Impact Analysis of Global Climate Change in Pennsylvania: Report # 98-11 Allegheny County Council Districts: A Voter Performance Analysis: Report # 98-08 Rethinking Public Housing in Allegheny County: Report # 98-06 Paycheck Protection: Giving Workers a Voice in Political Spending: Report # 98-05 Measuring County Government Citizen Access: A Survey of Pennsylvania and National Counties: Report # 98-04 Charting the Best Course for Home Rule in Allegheny County: Report # 98-01 Is There an 'Authority Wage Premium' In Allegheny County?: Report # 97-12 The Twilight of Unionism: Report # 97-11 An Analysis of the Westmorland County Waste-to-Energy Facility: Report # 97-10 The Three year Effect on NAFTA on Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh Region: Report # 97-08 Taxation With Misrepresentation: A Guide to the Southwestern PA Regional Renaissance Initiative: Report # 97-07 Fleet Management in Allegheny County: The Case for Privatization: Report # 97-06 Forced Busing: A Pittsburgh and National Failure: Report # 97-05 Westmoreland Manor: Privatization Options: Report # 97-03 The Case for Privatizing the Kane Regional Centers: Report # 97-02 The Regionalism Debate Revisited: Why Metropolitan Government is Wrong for Allegheny County: Report # 97-01 'Poison Pills' for Privatization: Legislative Attempts at Regulating Competitive Contracting: Report # 96-22 The 'Privilege' of Doing Business in Pittsburgh: A Taxing Experience: Report # 96-19 Available Online The Case for Competitive Contracting of Residential Refuse Collection in the City of Pittsburgh: Report # 96-18 The Pittsburgh Business Improvement District-A Constructive Critique: Report # 96-17 The Impact of a Tax Cut on Allegheny County's Bond Rating: Report # 96-15 Rightsizing Government: Lessons from America's Public Sector Innovators: Report # 96-11 Raising the Minimum Wage: Good Politics, Bad Economic Policy for Philadelphia: Report # 96-10 Addressing the City of Pittsburgh's Worker's Compensation Crisis: Report # 96-08 How Pension Planning Can Help Downsize Allegheny County Government: Report # 96-07 Privatizing ALCOSAN - Cutting Costs and Improving Waste Water Treatment in Allegheny County: Report # 96-05 Minimum Wages-Economics 101 Revisited: Report # 96-04 Assessment Privatization in Allegheny County: Report # 96-03 Available Online Designing Competitive Privatization Options for Cities: Pittsburgh: Report # 96-02 Competitive Contracting of Transit Servicees: Report # 95-08 Political Patronage in Allegheny County: Report # 95-07 Allegheny Regional Direct Asset Tax: Report # 95-06 A Financial Vlauation of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer System: Report # 95-04