PNC Park's reserve funds are financed through ticket surcharges at the ballparkGETTY IMAGES
Taxpayers in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County could "end up footing the bill for some improvements" to PNC Park, Heinz Field, PPG Paints Arena and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center under a proposal before the Allegheny Regional Asset District, according to a front-page piece by Mark Belko of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority is asking the ARAD board to earmark $1.16M in sales tax revenue next year to "help with capital repairs and improvements to the four venues," which are all owned by the PACSEA. Any money budgeted by the ARAD for that purpose would "be in addition" to the $13.4M annually that the ARAD "already allocates to pay off the debt related to [the] construction of Heinz Field and PNC Park." The public funding of the two facilities -- "usually referred to as Plan B -- proved to be very controversial," with some residents still "rankled by the decision." Heinz Field cost about $261M to build, while PNC Park cost $271M and PPG Paints cost about $331M. The new fund would "supplement individual capital reserve funds put in place for each of the venues." The Heinz Field and PNC Park reserve funds are "financed through ticket surcharges, while the arena fund is done through rent payments." PACSEA officials have "squabbled with the Pirates and Steelers in recent years over proposed improvements and whether those should be paid for out of the reserve funds or by the teams themselves" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/29).
