Over three years ago, in February 2010, we asked if the debt related to a trash incinerator was pervasive enough to cause a municipal bankruptcy filing-colloquially, that the City of Harrisburg’s finances could possibly end “up in ashes”.
Pittsburgh’s debt is high, but how does it compare to other cities? The Recovery Plan includes data from Moody’s Investor Services on FY2008. Using direct
In 2011, the debt per capita in Pittsburgh was $1,901, based on the Census count of 306,000 and $581.8 million in general obligation debt of the City. A decade earlier the average resident carried a much heavier debt load of $2,651. Both the debt and the City’s population were higher in 2001 but debt has fallen faster than population in the intervening years resulting in the per capita debt drop.
City of Pittsburgh, know thyself. So goes the Socratic admonition. Here’s some information to help in the self-knowledge.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Turnpike Commission welcomed 2013 with an increase in tolls, ten percent for cash customers and two percent for electronic customers (E-Z Pass). These toll increases are necessitated by the obligation of the Commission to pay $450 million annually to PennDOT as a result of Act 44 of 2007. As we noted in a Policy Brief a year ago (Volume 12, Number 5) the Turnpike Commission’s strategy is to pledge toll revenues to cover the issuance of debt in order to satisfy the Act 44 obligation. We warned that such a strategy is fraught with danger as the Commission is risking the Turnpike’s long-term fiscal health by continuing to take on larger and larger debt levels.
In January of this year, the Pennsylvania’s Auditor General proclaimed that the Pennsylvania Turnpike was “drowning in debt” to which the Turnpike CEO responded that
Recently Pennsylvania’s Auditor General stated that the Pennsylvania Turnpike is “drowning in debt”. This characterization was disputed by the Turnpike’s CEO as “simply not true”
Earlier this year the Mayor of Pittsburgh announced his plan to sell or lease garages and lots, possibly meters as well, in order to get
Last week we wrote about City Council wanting to have lead time on the decision to accept proposals from firms interested in entering into a
Members of Pittsburgh City Council have expressed frustration with the operations of the Public Parking Authority. Some have mentioned the possibility of dissolving the Authority.
