Colin McNickle stories, Page 8
Colin McNickle: Can Pa.’s record impact fee receipts be sustained?
Pennsylvania collected the highest total impact fees ever in 2018, fueled in part by a court ruling but paced largely by increased demand for shale gas, concludes a review of state data by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. Act 13 of 2012 (with collections retroactive to 2011) instituted the...
Colin McNickle: Troubling comparisons for Pittsburgh
An updated statistical analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy of how the City of Pittsburgh stacks up against four comparable “benchmark cities” should prompt much, and necessarily robust, discussion among local public policy makers. Since 2004, the Pittsburgh think tank has, every three years, compared the erstwhile Steel...
Colin McNickle: Budget challenges for Port Authority
A number of issues, nagging and expensive, face the Port Authority of Allegheny County in its proposed fiscal 2019-20 budget, says the research director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “An expiring labor contract and new hires are key drivers of operating expense increases for the mass transit authority,”...
Colin McNickle: The Penn Hills predicament
The Penn Hills School District finds itself in dire financial straits. And it now must execute a state-overseen financial recovery plan. A significant tax increase and layoffs are possible. But had taxpayers been given the direct oversight they deserve, the situation might be different, say two researchers at the Allegheny...
Colin McNickle: Reversing Greater Pittsburgh’s population decline
As the population continues to decline in Greater Pittsburgh’s seven-county region, sound public policies that could help to remedy the losses go unimplemented, remind scholars at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. Based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s estimates as of July 1, 2018, the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)...
Colin McNickle: Hurdles for Pittsburgh property tax relief
Pittsburgh would be given the exclusive and explicit authority to enact a property tax relief program for longtime owner-occupants whose property values have risen because of gentrification under a bill pending in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. But should the measure be approved, myriad implementation questions, left to the city, remain...
Colin McNickle: Pennsylvania gaming expansion’s marginal returns
State-sanctioned gambling — “gaming,” in the parlance of its overlords — has seen marked growth in Pennsylvania. But as a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy notes, the returns — initially sketched as the be-all and end-all on many fronts — remain marginal when considered in context....
Colin McNickle: Facts and fallacies on British Airways’ return to Pittsburgh
With much pomp and circumstance, British Airways last week resumed nonstop flights between Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) and London’s Heathrow Airport after a 20-year absence. The new flights are being subsidized with $3 million in public money over the next two years. However, the rationales cited for restarting the service...
Colin McNickle: Latest Pittsburgh jobs report disappoints
Overall job growth continues to be lackluster in Greater Pittsburgh. And in an interesting twist, the sector pacing that meager growth does the least to boost economic growth while the one so regularly touted as its future is showing paltry gains, say scholars at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy....
Colin McNickle: Public pension reform bows in Pa.
Pension reform at long last is being phased in for newly hired state workers in Pennsylvania. But it will be decades before those pension plans’ health is restored. And some taxpayers could see their taxes rise before relief comes, according to a review by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy....
Colin McNickle: Chaos ahead for Pa. transportation funding?
A nasty storm could be brewing for Pennsylvania’s transportation funding regimen, says the executive director of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. And, it’s all been fueled by dubious state legislation that long has milked the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) for millions of dollars to, in contravention of federal law,...
