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...
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...
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...
At its final meeting before adjourning, and almost a year after the Commonwealth Court decision declaring the state’s education funding model unconstitutional, the Basic Education Funding Commission considered two...
Bus and light-rail ridership on Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) routes remains far below pre-pandemic levels. Compared with September 2019, average daily ridership was 29.3 percent lower in September 2023. ...
The City of Pittsburgh’s preliminary 2024 operating and capital budgets were made public on Sept. 30th. Formal presentation by the mayor to City Council comes next month. The operating...
Commission begins quest for constitutional school funding
In February the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that Pennsylvania’s method of funding public education violated the state Constitution. For this fiscal year (FY) 2023-24 the state’s basic education...
How would Allegheny County’s students be affected by school vouchers?
The Pennsylvania Award for Student Success Program (voucher system) of $100 million that would be directed toward low income students attending low-achieving public schools in the state is an obstacle...
An update on Pittsburgh’s charitable property review
A February Policy Brief detailed an executive order from the mayor of Pittsburgh that called for a review of tax-exempt property owned by purely public charities. In March, a...
An April 2019 blog analyzed a report that advocated for expanded tax and fee options for local governments to support mass transit agencies. The issue at the time was the...
PIT January passenger count lower than 3 years ago
The long-awaited January passenger and operations data from Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) were released March 6. The numbers showed some slight improvement from pre-pandemic levels but were still well below...
Pittsburgh airport activity very weak in December 2022
Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) had a very weak month in December 2022, dipping well below the pre-pandemic December 2019 levels of activity. Throughout the second half of 2022, the monthly...
Administration’s U.S. employment claims not justified
President Biden and his administration are bragging their policies have created 12 million jobs. A little reality is required here. In April 2020, seasonally unadjusted private employment fell by 19,457,000...
PPS should restart its building closure plan this year
February 1 will mark two years since Pittsburgh Public Schools’ (PPS) board of directors tabled a resolution to close six school buildings. Those closures were part of a plan to...
The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on labor productivity in the U.S. business sector for the second quarter 2022 shows output per hour falling at a 3.6 percent...
