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Whose Lights Go Off First—Act 47’s or ICA’s?

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Recently we wrote about the much improved practices of the oversight board, especially pertaining to the auditing process under the amended terms of Act 11 of 2004. That includes completing an audit and sending it on to legislative committees that deal with the appropriations function.

The appropriation process for the current fiscal year was much less kind to the ICA. There is no amount for the oversight board in the $31 billion general fund budget. Under Community and Economic Development in the line item amounts the appropriation for “Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority—2nd Class Cities” shows a dotted line, a decrease of $250,000 or 100 percent from the FY 2016-17 amount. That amount was much lower than what had been expended in the previous decade when amounts greater than $500,000 were a regular occurrence, but up slightly from the $228,000 annual appropriation the ICA received from FY 2012-13 through FY 2014-15.

The executive director of the ICA noted at the September 28 board meeting “…our appropriation request for the fiscal year ’18 was zeroed out before the budget was approved by the House and the Senate.”

What is the explanation as to why the ICA was not funded? Did the state anticipate that the City of Pittsburgh would be coming out of Act 47 distressed status and that the oversight board could also go? That’s fine, but the 2016 amendments to the ICA statute said that the dissolution of the oversight board by the DCED Secretary would be the later of the Act 47 team’s removal or June 30, 2019. Is the ICA is just supposed to lay low until it reaches its end? It is not clear how if the board and its employee are supposed to function for the next year and a half.

It is certainly an odd situation to have if the intent is for the oversight board to be around in the capacity of an overseer.

 

 

 

 

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Allegheny Institute
Allegheny Institute

The Allegheny Institute is a non-profit research and education organization. Our mission is to defend the interests of taxpayers, citizens and businesses against an increasingly burdensome and intrusive government.

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