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                                                      PRINTER'S NO. 2223

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


SENATE RESOLUTION

No. 347 Session of 2008


        INTRODUCED BY ORIE, PIPPY AND BROWNE, JUNE 23, 2008

        REFERRED TO URBAN AFFAIRS AND HOUSING, JUNE 23, 2008

                                  A RESOLUTION

     1  Supporting efforts for current functional consolidation and
     2     future political consolidation of the City of Pittsburgh with
     3     Allegheny County.

     4     WHEREAS, Many studies, such as the notable report, Back to
     5  Prosperity: A Competitive Agenda for Renewing Pennsylvania,
     6  published in December 2003 by The Brookings Institution, have
     7  promoted the potential efficiencies and cost savings to
     8  taxpayers of eliminating fragmented government and consolidating
     9  government functions; and
    10     WHEREAS, The Citizens Advisory Committee on the Efficiency
    11  and Effectiveness of City-County Government recently recommended
    12  that the City of Pittsburgh merge with Allegheny County; and
    13     WHEREAS, In 2005, the Local Government Consolidation: Lessons
    14  for West Virginia studies on merger and consolidation showed
    15  that most successful reorganizations are characterized by a
    16  process involving a few functions which expand to a much larger
    17  number as experience builds both trust and competency; and
    18     WHEREAS, In January 1996, the Committee to Prepare Allegheny

     1  County for the 21st Century (ComPAC 21), established by the
     2  county commissioners, noted that "As a region, we cannot afford
     3  nor do taxpayers expect to pay for unnecessary and duplicative
     4  public services"; and
     5     WHEREAS, In October 1996, the Competitive Pittsburgh Task
     6  Force, established by the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh,
     7  issued a report containing the "major recommendation" for
     8  cooperation between the city and the county to eliminate all
     9  duplicate services, which included specialized police and public
    10  safety services, emergency management, senior citizen programs,
    11  recreational programs, public works and administrative support
    12  services; and
    13     WHEREAS, Specific recommendations included selling the
    14  asphalt plant and entering into a joint purchasing agreement for
    15  the purchase of asphalt, combine bomb and ordnance disposal
    16  units, fleet maintenance and senior centers; and
    17     WHEREAS, In 2001, the PBGH 21 Commission, formed by the Mayor
    18  of the City of Pittsburgh, proposed that the rapid changes in
    19  technology should prompt the city to share services, personnel
    20  and infrastructure, or to take advantage of economies of scale,
    21  hardware and software, with Allegheny County and other
    22  jurisdictions; and
    23     WHEREAS, This included, but was not limited to, a joint
    24  nonemergency call-taking center, purchasing and fleet
    25  management; and
    26     WHEREAS, In 2003, the Allegheny County Chief Executive sent a
    27  letter to the city which identified cost savings that could be
    28  achieved through the sharing of services; and
    29     WHEREAS, Those proposed shared functions included integration
    30  of economic development organizations, combined purchasing
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     1  operations, telecommunications, records storage, furniture
     2  warehousing and inventory control, mailing and vending, fleet
     3  management and shared fueling facilities, information
     4  technology, road maintenance, print and sign printing shops and
     5  joint public safety training; and
     6     WHEREAS, The Interim Coordination and Information Sharing
     7  report to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (ICA) from
     8  the City of Pittsburgh Act 47 Recovery Plan Development, dated
     9  April 8, 2004, noted its recommendations will build on recent
    10  discussions with Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh School
    11  District for increased functional consolidation in areas, such
    12  as the purchasing of uniforms, utilities, telecommunications,
    13  vending and information technology services and in pooled
    14  service delivery, such as police training, including
    15  consolidation of training facilities; and
    16     WHEREAS, The ICA for Cities of the Second Class preliminary
    17  report of April 12, 2004, noted that the declines in the city's
    18  tax base have still not been offset by corresponding reductions
    19  in city expenditures and noted that excessive duplication of
    20  services continues; and
    21     WHEREAS, The Municipalities Financial Recovery Act Recovery
    22  Plan for the City of Pittsburgh prepared by Public Financial
    23  Management and Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, and filed
    24  with the city clerk on June 11, 2004, contained 29
    25  intergovernmental cooperation initiatives, including
    26  consolidation of purchasing, transfer of arson investigation to
    27  the county, transfer of pet licensing to the county, joint
    28  facility management, joint information technology management,
    29  equipment and services and consolidation of tax collection; and
    30     WHEREAS, The November 2004 report of the ICA for Cities of
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     1  the Second Class discussed the continuing need for the merger of
     2  city and county purchasing functions and the study of other
     3  consolidations, such as the integration of city and county
     4  detectives, which should and must occur if they can provide
     5  significant cost reductions while enhancing the quality of such
     6  services to citizens; and
     7     WHEREAS, According to the Allegheny Institute for Public
     8  Policy, the city and county have failed to move forward on a
     9  majority of the above-recommended consolidations of services to
    10  date, including, but not limited to, park maintenance and other
    11  public works activities, and has even failed to privatize
    12  garbage collection; and
    13     WHEREAS, The city has failed to sell assets or set aside
    14  funds to address its significant debt and legacy costs; and
    15     WHEREAS, A presentation in March 2008 by the ICA for Cities
    16  of the Second Class to the Department of Community and Economic
    17  Development demonstrated that the city continues to have serious
    18  financial issues and noted that more structural change is
    19  necessary to impact the heavy legacy burden of unfunded
    20  pensions, postretirement health care, debt and capital budget
    21  needs and that the current five-year operating budget
    22  projections show a return to deficits even before addressing
    23  these legacy costs; and
    24     WHEREAS, The governmental consolidation proposed by the
    25  Citizens Advisory Committee does not adequately address the
    26  responsibility for the debts and legacy costs of the city in
    27  that it fails to contemplate the debts and obligations of the
    28  city's numerous authorities, such as urban redevelopment, sewer
    29  and parking, among others; and
    30     WHEREAS, The governmental consolidation proposed by the
    20080S0347R2223                  - 4 -     

     1  Citizens Advisory Committee leaves constitutional and other
     2  major issues unanswered, such as the future political
     3  representation of citizens, the Uniformity Clause prohibitions
     4  on disparate tax rates within a single jurisdiction, the number
     5  and level of future governmental employees and operations, and
     6  the role of other municipalities located within the county,
     7  among other issues, in addition to the above-mentioned serious
     8  financial questions regarding pension, debt and other
     9  inadequately funded obligations of the city; and
    10     WHEREAS, Merging services can be accomplished immediately by
    11  vote of the respective councils and the agreement of the Mayor
    12  of the City of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Chief
    13  Executive without legislation by the General Assembly; therefore
    14  be it
    15     RESOLVED, That the Senate support the immediate functional
    16  consolidation of services between the City of Pittsburgh and
    17  Allegheny County and encourage the city to take the necessary
    18  and significant steps to reduce its debt and legacy costs as a
    19  precondition to any political or governmental consolidation; and
    20  be it further
    21     RESOLVED, That the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee
    22  conduct hearings on the issues raised in this Resolution, and
    23  any other issues that may arise from the proposed consolidation,
    24  prior to the passage of any legislation authorizing political
    25  consolidation between the City and the County; and be it further
    26     RESOLVED, That no legislation be passed authorizing such
    27  political consolidation unless the resolution of these issues is
    28  contained therein, and the citizens of the affected jurisdiction
    29  can therefore be fully informed of the consequences of political
    30  consolidation prior to any ballot referendum thereon.
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