The Audit: Numbers on Paper

That puts Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in the enviable position of sitting on an $89.5 million fiscal cushion, plus another $61.2 million set aside for city improvements, as he heads into an election year. (P-G, Rich Lord)

Heads into a what now?

"The mayor's financial philosophy is working," said Finance Director Scott Kunka. "It's a positive trend. Everything the mayor's able to control, he's done."

Oh my goodness, are we campaigning? Do we have to fact-check this? Will anyone care this time?

Mr. Kunka said that five of the city's six biggest employers are tax-exempt, exemplifying the problem it has providing services while much of its economy is free from property and payroll levies. He said the administration is entering into negotiations with the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, a consortium of nonprofit groups, to reach a voluntary donation agreement to replace one that ended last year.

Ah yes, the "conciliatory approach."

At the most recent Act 47 hearing, most Pittsburgh officials demanded action from the state Legislature to directly address statewide municipal debt problems -- specifically prescribing commonsense reform to Act 55, the Purely Public Charities Act.

Why aren't we all talking about Act 55 every time we step in front of a microphone? This issue needs more than ceremonial leadership.