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.

Higher office vacancy rates impacting Pittsburgh’s suburbs

Introduction:  Several previous Policy Briefs have discussed the lingering high office vacancy rates in Pittsburgh’s central business district (CBD), especially since the pandemic, and how they are impacting the coffers of taxing bodies as building owners are winning lower assessments through the appeals process.  Successful appeals of commercial property values...
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Latest from AI

Pittsburgh’s deer problem
Pittsburgh must face the truth or die
Mocking justice is not sound public policy
Could local sales taxes be coming to Pa.’s counties?
USGA bellies up to the taxpayer bar anew
Dawdling no option in addressing Pittsburgh’s finances

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

Higher office vacancy rates impacting Pittsburgh’s suburbs

vol24
No: 19

Several previous Policy Briefs have discussed the lingering high office vacancy rates in Pittsburgh’s central business district (CBD), especially since the pandemic, and how they are impacting the coffers of taxing bodies as building owners are winning lower assessments through the appeals process.  Successful appeals of commercial property values that lower assessments and reduce property tax payments are a problem that is not confined to the City of Pittsburgh but has also begun to affect taxing bodies around the county as other commercial property owners follow suit.

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Could local sales taxes be coming to Pa.’s counties?

vol24
No: 18

A bill introduced in the General Assembly would permit all counties except Philadelphia and Allegheny to enact a 1 percent local option sales and use tax (local option tax) to fund services or reduce existing taxes.

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Colin Mcnickle At Large

Pittsburgh’s deer problem

Why is it so axiomatic that government gets things so backwards? And in Pittsburgh, it too often is the rule rather than the exception. Too many public projects/programs are based...
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Pittsburgh must face the truth or die

The first casualty of public relations is the truth. And Blue Sky News, the in-house PR organ of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, has a regular, and bad, habit of...
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Mocking justice is not sound public policy

Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam issued a formal County Council proclamation on Tuesday recognizing Magisterial District Justice Xander Orenstein for “dedication to serving the residents of the region and putting...
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Op-Ed

Higher office vacancy rates not confined to City of Pittsburgh

vol24
No: 19

The City of Pittsburgh is not alone in its struggles with chronically high office vacancy rates. So, too, are Pittsburgh’s suburbs.

And the same deleterious domino effect of the pandemic-fueled changed work habits, coupled with a lack of regular property assessments, could lead to the same serious challenges for suburban taxing bodies, says a researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy.

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Voters should decide new ‘local option’ taxes

vol24
No: 18

A bill introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly would allow all counties except Allegheny and Philadelphia to enact a 1 percent “local option” sales and use tax.

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all volumes

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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Optional Sales Tax for PA Counties

ByAllegheny Institute |

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 |

Insights that Speak to You

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    Pittsburgh, PA 15234
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    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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