(June 3, 2007)
Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato will travel to Harrisburg tomorrow to lobby for dedicated funding for mass transit, as well as additional operating and capital funding.

“Saving mass transit in Allegheny County remains a top priority of mine,” said Onorato. “We’ve shown Harrisburg that we’re serious about making difficult decisions at the Port Authority, including rightsizing service and ending exorbitant management benefits and pensions. Now, we need to identify a dedicated funding source for mass transit. Currently, the County writes a $25-million check from our budget every year to fund the Port Authority, but we cannot continue to do that indefinitely. Local funding for mass transit needs to grow with inflation in order to keep Port Authority solvent and viable.”

Onorato will also request funding for County operating expenses and additional capital improvement projects throughout the County.

“There are several areas in which we need help from the Commonwealth,” said Onorato. “We believe Allegheny County should receive a portion of the $1.00 emergency service fee the Commonwealth charges mobile telephone users to assist with the operation of our 9-1-1 Center. Counties across the Commonwealth are also on the hook to cover health care costs for jail inmates. This is an enormous expense, and one that could be reduced with a change in state law to allow for an extension of state Medicaid for inmates.”

The County’s capital requests continue to focus on brownfield redevelopment and the creation of shovel-ready land in the airport corridor.

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