“Rates for airlines, rental car customers to soar to help pay for $1.57 billion Pittsburgh airport modernization,” read the recent Post-Gazette headline.
Of course, the Allegheny County Airport Authority continues to be quick to claim that no local taxes are going into the still-controversial Pittsburgh International (PIT) project. The airlines are paying for it all, goes the long-running and misleading talking point.
Never mind the “state grants,” never mind the transfer of gambling money in perpetuity – are all public dollars with some local contributions.
Now the traveling public will be paying higher fees associated with rental cars. Cleverly labeled a “customer facility charge,” it will be raised by more than 33 percent.
And does the Airport Authority really have the temerity to think that the airlines will not pass along the higher rates imposed on them to customers through ticket and other charges?
“Per-enplanement fees” are being jacked up by nearly 30 percent.
Oh, by the way, the P-G offered this interesting observation on those higher “per-enplanement fees”:
“There’s typically a direct correlation between the cost per enplanement and the number of travelers who use the airport each year. That is, the higher the traffic volume, the lower the cost.”
Keep this in mind as costs continue to rise at PIT.
Pennlive.com reports that Pennsylvania awarded $5 million in grant money – i.e. taxpayer money – for 11 major sporting events coming to the state.
Which prompts us to ask our usual question in such cases: “For why?”
“The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) estimates the events will bring an estimated $240.2 million into Pennsylvania’s economy,” Pennlive reports the rationalizations of “The State.”
“The Sports Marketing and Tourism Program was created to attract high-quality, amateur, and professional sporting and e-sports events to Pennsylvania.”
Here’s the Pennlive-reported list of unacceptable taxpayer giveaways:
- Allegheny County: $1 million was awarded to the United States Golf Association in support of the 2025 men’s U.S. Open.
- Centre County: $93,055 was awarded to the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau in support of the 2024 Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Series.
- Dauphin County: $76,945 was awarded to the Hershey Figure Skating Club in support of the 2025 Eastern Sectional Synchronized Skating Championship.
- Delaware County: $900,000 was awarded to the PGA of America in support of the 2026 PGA Championship.
- Erie County: $45,000 was awarded to the Erie Area Convention & Visitors Bureau in support of the 2024 Major League Fishing tournament, which was held in August.
- Lehigh County: $25,000 was awarded to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs in support of the 2025 three-night appearance by the Savannah Bananas. $80,000 was awarded to BDH Development/PPL Center in support of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Regional.
- Lycoming County: $750,000 was awarded to Williamsport in support of the 2025 Little League World Series and a related event.
- Monroe County: $250,000 was awarded to the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau in support of the NASCAR Cup Series in Monroe County, which was held in July.
- Montgomery County: $30,000 was awarded to the Narberth Ambulance Volunteer Medical Service Corps to sponsor the 2024 US Cycling Ardmore Rock-n-Ride Bicycle Race and Music Festival, which was held in August.
- Philadelphia County: $1,750,000 was awarded to the Philadelphia Phillies in support of the 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Bottom line: Not one of these events should be underwritten by Pennsylvania taxpayers. If they can’t stand on their own, through the likes of ticket sales and corporate sponsorships, they should not be held.
Period.
And, finally, an interesting note from the email inbox:
“I worked for Allegheny County for 15 years after 30 years in the private sector. I worked 10 years at CYF and five at the [county] assessment office.
“If anyone says there is no fat to trim, they are either lying or never worked there. I saw clerk typists at CYF with about two hours of work per day. If someone quit or retired, they felt they had to fill the slot even if they didn’t need someone due to the workload.
“At the Assessment Office, I couldn’t get enough work. We might get 10 permits a day, which wasn’t enough on a normal day to keep busy for 8 hours. People at both offices complained about their job but didn’t know how good they had it.
“I joined a pool after I retired 10 years ago and met a person that worked for the road department. I thought he worked at night because he was there every day. Nobody gets that many days off.
“I am not going to continue on but I am sure you know about the workforce. I believe a lot of positions are to give people jobs and wouldn’t have even brought it up except that when you want to raise taxes [by nearly] 50 percent, don’t act like there is nowhere to cut because that is untrue.”
We thank the correspondent for his insight. And it leads us to believe that such behavior likely is more widespread than county officials would care to admit – if not work so steadfastly to hide.
That said, Allegheny County Council is scheduled to vote on a smaller property tax hike – 28.5 percent – at its Tuesday meeting, cutting about $70 million out of the county executive’s proposed budget.
But that should be considered a start, not a finish.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
