A STATEMENT FROM KEVIN ACKLIN ON YESTERDAY'S PENSION LEGISLATION
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, September 18th, 2009
CONTACT: Andy Gastmeyer, Press Secretary
412.327.6951 (cell) | 412.481.3150 (office)
A STATEMENT FROM KEVIN ACKLIN ON YESTERDAY'S PENSION LEGISLATION
"It's good news for the people of Pittsburgh that state lawmakers have passed legislation that will give us two more years to solve our city's pension crisis. What isn't good news for the people of Pittsburgh is Luke Ravenstahl's idea to address the pension problem by privatizing the city's parking garages.
Privatizing the city's parking assets is not a good idea, and not a good solution to our pension crisis. A study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University earlier this year concluded that Mayor Ravenstahl’s plan to privatize the city’s parking garages would, after all debt repayments, yield only $71 million. That’s not even half of the $189 million we need to return the pension fund to critical 50% solvency level.
Other cities that have privatized their garages have encountered problems with the companies contracted to manage them and for the residents who have no choice but to use them. In Chicago, parking fees have skyrocketed. Some rates have tripled. Most experts say the same thing will happen here.
The parking assets are a secure source of income for the city of Pittsburgh for years to come. We can not trade long-term stability for short-term gain, especially if that short-term gain will be paid, over the course of the next 99 years, out of the wallets of generations of hard-working Pittsburghers.
When I'm Mayor, I'll return the pension fund to 50% solvency with the plan I outlined last week -- one that does not privatize the city's parking assets, that does not shift the burden of the payments onto the back of city taxpayers, and that takes a critical first step toward refocusing development on Pittsburgh's neighborhoods.
# # #
[ Back to News ]
