According to Mayor Ravenstahl there is unanimous agreement in his group of government, university and business leaders that Pittsburgh needs a new source of revenue to bail out its ailing financial problems. We can think of two gigantic problems with the Mayor’s assessment of the situation.
First, there is absolutely no evidence that a new source of revenue will solve Pittsburgh’s long standing tendency to spend or commit to spending all the money it gets its hands on and then some. Over the past two decades the Legislature has provided numerous additional sources of recurring revenue to the City as well enormous amounts of money to large building projects in the City.
And what has the City done to correct its well documented extravagant spending? Not very much. It is still far out of line in its spending, employment and legacy costs compared to other U.S cities. So why would we think a new revenue source would solve the problem? The City needs first to demonstrate its willingness to make the spending cuts necessary to put its house in order. Lower cost government can redound positively to the City with a lot of benefits; lower taxes, a friendlier climate for business and new residents and happier taxpayers.
Raising taxes in the current economic environment is nothing less than preposterous.
The second gigantic problem? Who are the business leaders on the Mayor’s panel who endorse a new revenue source and why are they doing it? No doubt these are the same folks who thought a new tax to fund stadiums was a good idea and that wasting $500 million on a PAT tunnel under the Allegheny River was a good use of taxpayer dollars. If these businesses are so keen to help Pittsburgh with new revenue, why do they not each volunteer a four or five million dollars per year to the City? If it is so important to find new revenue, they should take the lead and make a commitment. That they won’t ante up reveals a fair amount of hypocrisy. Those who want others to pay more should lead the way and donate voluntarily or recommend tax increases on themselves.
That won’t happen because their colleagues in the business world would go ballistic. And no doubt many shareholders in their own companies would as well.
Finally, it is worth noting that the Mayor’s request for $4 million from the tax-exempt institutions received no commitment from the university presidents in attendance at the meeting. Of course being great public spirited citizens they want to help the City by going to Harrisburg and lobbying for more taxes.
We can only hope the Legislature will give this delegation short shrift, exactly what it deserves.
