The Post-Gazette documents how a plethora of property assessment appeals by the owners of downtown Pittsburgh’s vacancy-riddled skyscrapers could throw the budgets of the city, Pittsburgh Public Schools and Allegheny County in chaos.
While it’s common to hear the pandemic created the problem, high vacancy rates pre-dated Covid, which clearly exasperated what’s being called the “perfect storm.”
And, of course, adding fuel to the storm over the last decade has been a gathering low-pressure system of no regular reassessments.
We repeat, again:
There must be regular property reassessments. We prefer every three years. Failure to do so violates the state constitutional provision of uniform taxation. And that leads to even more instability when the vacancy rate variable comes into play.
The failure to reassess is a manifest dereliction of public policy duty.
The P-G also reports that the Gainey administration has “quietly dropped” a number of city transparency websites.
They either have been taken offline or no longer are being updated.
It’s certainly a blow to open government and a slap in the face to taxpayers who deserve transparency from their government agencies.
And as the P-G opines, it certainly raises credible questions about what the Gainey administration doesn’t want the public to see and why. Such a cloak over transparency is a nefarious public policy that must not be tolerated.
Pennlive.com reports that the Pennsylvania Turnpike is phasing out paper hand towels in its restrooms at all 17 of its statewide service plazas.
The switch to electric hand dryers is billed as a “conservation” measure.
And while there are plenty of studies suggesting there is significant cost-savings in making the switch, there remain questions aplenty about what method for drying one’s hands is more sanitary.
All this considered, there is a very practical conundrum associated with this public policy switchover:
How will weary travelers wash and dry their faces?
Apparently, they’ll now have to supply their own paper towels. And we cringe at the thought – and sight – of those who don’t — attempting to dry their faces with any kind of wall mounted electric hand dryer.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
