Defending the Pittsburgh area taxpayers and businesses against the burdensome taxation and regulation of Big Government

Introduction: In the late 1990s, the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), with a newly constructed terminal from earlier in the decade, posted much higher passenger counts than it has seen in recent years. Of course, USAirways had a hub during that period.  From 1996 to 1998, PIT averaged 20.6 million passengers (enplanements and deplanements) per year. In 2000 and 2001, annual passengers averaged just over 19 million. In 2002 passenger counts began to slip, falling to 7.9 million in 2009 as USAirways entered bankruptcy.

Pittsburgh City Council raised property taxes 20 percent in December and reopened and passed a revised 2026 operating budget in April.  But if estimates from the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) second quarter report hold, the year will end in a deficit.  The preliminary 2027 operating budget and five-year forecast shows four years of negative operating results and a negative ending fund balance in 2031.