Things I Find Interesting - Part III

So, there's this big article in the electronic version of the PG, hidden right after the jump outlining an impending crisis in the finances of Allegheny County.

As the state prospers under Mr. Rendell's surplus projections and the city recovers from financial despair, the economic forecast and health of the county's finances is an increasingly debatable issue among politicians and local government experts.

Some say the county with its ongoing deficits is steadily sliding into a major financial crisis, much like Pittsburgh did a few years ago, because its costs of operation are either going up or remain unchanged, and yet it continues with little or no new revenue...

Mr. Onorato cut 200 jobs to balance the 2008 budget, the second time in five years that he has eliminated jobs to cut costs...

In years past, county leaders have relied on annual or periodic updates in property assessments to provide additional revenue without increasing tax millage. Mr. Onorato calls that a "back-door tax increase" and refuses to follow that path...

Those choices have limited the amount of additional revenue the county has available year after year.

In challenging his critics to embrace a new era when the county does not rely solely on property tax increases for new revenue, Mr. Onorato continues to weather a political firestorm over his push for the two new taxes and the $19.9 million payment the county received from state gambling revenues. The gambling money was supposed to be for airport debts and Mr. Onorato used it for the first payment on $42 million the county spent to help build the passenger terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport.

And so on. For the record, Mr. Briem of Pitt doesn't seem as alarmist as his colleague Mr. Strauss over at CMU.

However, the dirty little, unsubstantiated secret, whispered and murmured in the back of County Offices is that Allegheny County is, effectively, broke, but some fancy footwork (I dare not say "cooked books") has made it seem that they're operating in the black. The rumor continues on to say that the breadth of the problem is even worse than the City's own financial crisis, but they've been very good at concealing it.

From my own personal experience, I've heard many criticisms of County Government including "they hire too many consultants," "they have too much middle management," "they provide services inefficiently or ineffectively," and "the guy in charge is a third rate CPA who wants to be governor." I cannot speak for the veracity or validity of such claims, but considering how many people have independently voiced them to me, I cannot easily dismiss the sneaking suspicion that something is wrong in the County Office of Budget & Finance.

Above all, I find that interesting.