Colin McNickle stories, Page 7

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,”...

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...

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)...

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...

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....

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...

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....

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....

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,...