Bill Peduto, Mayor of Pittsburgh, said on Friday that he would start legal proceedings against the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (ICA), unless it releases the amount of $11.4 million in casino money by the end of June.
Generally speaking, the ICA is in charge of the city’s finances. Pittsburgh Finance Director Paul Leger contended in a Thursday letter that since 2014, the administrative body has been withholding money and has been jeopardizing Pittsburgh’s ability to make both debt and pension payments.
As a host city, or a city that features gambling venues on its territory, Pittsburgh is annually contributed no less than $10 million from the state’s casino revenue. Under the Pennsylvania gambling law, the ICA is responsible for releasing the casino proceeds.
Mayor Peduto said on Friday that the agency has up until July 1 to release the money. Otherwise, the matter will be brought to court. The official also claimed that the ICA is wrongfully withholding the proceeds in an attempt to dictate how those should be spent.
Henry Sciortino, Executive Director of the administrative body, denied the accusations saying that they have always followed the state laws and have released the money for the purposes it is meant to serve.
Under the current casino law, Pittsburgh is to spend the money for pension payouts and debt service. If the proceeds are to serve other causes, this needs to be determined by the ICA. The administrative body said that it will withhold the proceeds until the city installs a proper in-house electronic tracking system that would keep a record on the pension and debt payments.
When asked about their opinion on the matter, Pennsylvania legislators said that they were not well-informed about the dispute but hoped that the issue would be resolved quickly.
Mayor Peduto said on Thursday that the ICA has overstepped its authority by backing a conditional release of the amount of $2.5 million, which is to be spent for improvements of the Pittsburgh fire, police, and paramedic stations, as well as for cybersecurity measures. The money will be released from two escrow accounts once the upgrades are completed.
In addition, Mayor Peduto commented that he has never been presented with an accounting of the casino proceeds and argued that Pittsburgh might not be given the interest those earn while being held in a state Treasury account.
According to the Pennsylvania Treasury, the daily interest on the money is 0.05%. As of Friday, the account totaled $11,407,140.15, interest included.
