Defending the Pittsburgh area taxpayers and businesses against the burdensome taxation and regulation of Big Government

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Mission Statement

The Allegheny Institute is a non-profit research and education organization. Our mission is to defend the interests of taxpayers, citizens and businesses against an increasingly burdensome and intrusive government. To that end, we will formulate and advocate public policies that roll back the size and scope of local government as well as create a more accountable government. Our efforts will be guided by the principles of free enterprise, property rights, civil society and individual freedom that are the bedrock upon which this nation was founded.

Stop rewarding bad business

Should taxpayers reward the failure of a private business? Of course not. The question arises – again – as an ancillary note to a Post-Gazette story that yet another business is fleeing Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle. The Edgar Snyder law firm will leave its space in the U.S. Steel Tower on...
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Latest from AI

Allegheny County reassessment lawsuit becomes reality
All aboard? No thanks
The assessments lawsuit
Truth as the first casualty of government
A better ‘affordable housing’ option?
Convention center hotel deja vu

Accomplishments

Action Steps

We continue to offer our policy prescriptions for fixing what ails the county. We released briefs regarding lowering government costs, fixing Pittsburgh Regional Transit and fixing inaccurate property assessments. In addition, we benchmarked Allegheny County’s performance on issues such as spending, revenues and staffing with four similar counties across the country. Most recently, in Policy Brief Volume 24, Number 1, the following ideas are shared, “What the city should not do...
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Right To Work

The differences in employment gains across states are stunningly enormous. This analysis looks closely at five states that have fared less well than the nation and five that performed better. The group that has lagged the national rate of improvement includes Pennsylvania; New York; California; Massachusetts and Illinois. The better-than-national group includes Florida, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Note that the first set of states are non-Right-to-Work states (NRTW)...
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Gaming Industry

Gaming should not be relied upon to solve any budget problems. The commonwealth’s leaders still need to keep expenditures in check and create a more business-friendly environment, which will lead to a more prosperous economy for everyone. Stimulus money from COVID has, or is about to, run its course. Relying on it was a mistake. That practice just boosted spending above levels that can be sustained—absent faster economic growth or higher...
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COVID Lockdown/Aftermath

Our analyses of the Turnpike Commission, the Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh International Airport and the Regional Asset District showed how the lockdown affected each entity’s operations and the challenges they face going forward.  As the pandemic ended, we maintained our vigilance in keeping governments, and their agencies, accountable to the taxpayer.  Our analysis of the area’s economy and employment picture notes the difficulties that lie ahead. We will...
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Pittsburgh International Airport

Our analyses of the Pittsburgh International Airport shows how the lockdown affected the entity’s operations and the challenges it faces going forward. PIT has experienced a very weak 23 years since the turn of the century and the loss of its major hub carrier in the early 2000s. Even after the hub loss impact, enplanements at PIT continued to slide through 2010, remained below 4 million a year until a...
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Vacancy Rates

We continue to document the struggles with downtown Pittsburgh’s vacancy rate as workers are slow to return to the office.  The sluggish economy, Pittsburgh’s poor business climate, and crime will continue to weigh on the office market vacancy rate.  This will become a more pressing issue as building owners begin to appeal their property assessments and school, city and county property tax revenues begin to fall.  Follow the situation in...
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Policy Briefs

Allegheny County reassessment lawsuit becomes reality

vol24
No: 15

 

On April 8, Pittsburgh Public Schools filed a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas to force Allegheny County to carry out a reassessment. The lawsuit was authorized by a school board resolution in March.  County reassessments that went into effect in 2001 and 2013 were the result of court orders.

 

 

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PIT’s passenger growth still anemic

vol24
No: 14

In a March 15, 2024, Post-Gazette article, the CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority—in response to the as of yet officially unposted February passenger count of 646,000—told board members “We have finally beaten the 100% mark; I look forward to not comparing us to 2019 anymore soon.”

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Colin Mcnickle At Large

Stop rewarding bad business

Should taxpayers reward the failure of a private business? Of course not. The question arises – again – as an ancillary note to a Post-Gazette story that yet another business...
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All aboard? No thanks

Last week, the Center Square news site, as did the Allegheny Institute last fall, sounded the alarm bells over the sure-to-grow cost of Amtrak’s coming, expanded, twice-a-day passenger train service...
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The assessments lawsuit

A decade-plus of dickering, fueled by rancid political expediency — with repeated gross factual misrepresentations thrown in — came home to roost this past week when Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS)...
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Op-Ed

Settle the assessments lawsuit, Allegheny Co.

vol24
No: 15

The long-threatened lawsuit by Pittsburgh Public Schools to force Allegheny County to conduct a comprehensive property reassessment came to pass on April 8.

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Christina Cassotis’ ‘facts’ & PIT’s realities

vol24
No: 14

“Facts are stubborn things,” Founding Father John Adams reminded. “And whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

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In The News

A ‘fiscal cliff’ threatens Pittsburgh
Tax revenue projections, detailed by the city Controller’s Office, are at odds with public financial picture presented by Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration.
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PIT Performance
The latest Policy Brief on Pittsburgh International Airport is discussed during an interview with the CEO of the Airport Authority.
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Pittsburgh’s ‘economic doldrums’ persist despite low unemployment
Pennsylvania has struggled to reverse population losses in much of the state – this despite its low unemployment rate.
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Blog

An update on Allegheny County property assessments

  Carrying out a property reassessment in Allegheny County was a campaign issue in the election for the Office of Chief Executive and for good reason.  The county has not...
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An early look at Pittsburgh’s 2023 fiscal results

  In mid-February, Pittsburgh’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delivered the fourth quarter Financial and Performance Report, which also shows year-end results for 2023.  The financials are unaudited; in...
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State budget would grow and modify the basic education funding subsidy

  Pennsylvania’s governor made his fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 budget presentation on Tuesday.  With almost a year passing since the state’s Commonwealth Court ruled the method of funding K-12 public...
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PPS Lawsuit over Reassessments

ByAllegheny Institute |

State Revenue FY 2022-23

ByAllegheny Institute |

Westmoreland County Finances

ByAllegheny Institute |

Looking Ahead to 2024

ByAllegheny Institute |

Pittsburgh Public Schools 2024 Prelim Budget

ByAllegheny Institute |

Pittsburgh MSA Job Data and PIT Flight Data

ByAllegheny Institute |

Insights that Speak to You

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    Pittsburgh, PA 15234
  • Telephone: (412) 440-0079
    Fax: (412) 440-0085
  • aipp@alleghenyinstitute.org
“Allegheny Institute’s research, education and advocacy work to defend taxpayers and businesses against the burdensome taxation, inefficiency and intrusiveness of an ever expanding government.”
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