PITTSBURGH -- Allegheny County's Port Authority transit is under fire, accused of granting lavish pensions and benefits to top managers.

State Auditor General Jack Wagner claimed the transit agency wasted millions of dollars and ran up a $28 million shortfall in its management pension plan.

Wagner called the situation "outrageous and self-indulgent," given the Port Authority's money problems, which the agency has said is forcing it to cut many routes and lay off hundreds of employees.

"What the Port Authority management keeps saying is that they're going to cut service, first and foremost," said Wagner. "We want these findings in regard to management to be considered first, prior to cutting service to the people of Allegheny County."

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Port Authority CEO Steve Bland on Monday unveiled cost-saving cuts in those benefits, which they said they were already planning before Wagner's blast.

"You're going to see the corrections starting of what I believe have been excessive, maybe even abusive payments," said Onorato. "However you want to describe them, it's going to stop. Those days are over."

Wagner's audit noted that managers in their 40s can retire with full pension and benefits after 25 years

Also found was that early retiree managers get an extra $500 a month until age 62, and managers can buy back unlimited years of service from public jobs held elsewhere.

"Management has placed itself in an elite status and is the main reason why the Port Authority of Allegheny County is in the fiscal crisis it is in today," said Wagner.

The Port Authority said its board will vote this month to end those practices for future retirees and cut back other benefits for future retirees and current transit management.

"(It) will really be just a small percentage of that budget gap, so this does nothing to eliminate our current plan to bring a service proposal to the board as well," said Bland.

---

Proposed Cost-Saving Moves (from www.portauthority.org)

Accelerating the departure of those employees who remain enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Program to July 1, 2007.
Eliminating "lifetime healthcare" for non-represented employees retiring after June 30, 2007.
Restricting the "buy-back" of previous employment time only to military years of service and a 10-year vesting period.
Eliminating the $500 monthly pension supplement.
Increasing non-represented employees' healthcare contributions to 2 percent of annual salary in Fiscal Year 2008, which begins July 1, 2007, and a subsequent increase to 3 percent of annual salary in Fiscal Year 2009.
Freezing Fiscal Year 2008 salaries for all non-represented employees.
Freezing Bland's salary through June 2009 (amounting to a three-year freeze).
Freezing all senior management position salaries (amounting to a two-year freeze).
Eliminating unlimited accrual of sick leave.
Eliminating 56 non-represented budgeted positions, including 20 management positions, mostly through attrition.
Exploring sub-lease opportunities for Port Authority's downtown offices in order to return administrative operations to Port Authority's Manchester building earlier than the 2010 expiration of the current downtown lease.
Reducing the number of assistant general managers from eight to five.
Eliminating non-essential company vehicles and charging Port Authority employees with company cars the market rate for downtown parking.
Removing Bland's separate deferred compensation contribution by the Port Authority.
Removing a provision that gives Bland the use of a Port Authority-owned vehicle and downtown parking space. (Bland said he stopped using the vehicle in September.)

---

Related Links:
More Allegheny County News

Get RSS | E-Mail Alerts

---