Many of the commonwealth's roughly 2,000 authorities manage essential public assets like water and sewer systems.
Basically, local governments create the authorities, appoint their boards and delegate responsibility for assets (airports, stadiums, public parking facilities, water and sewer systems), effectively increasing City Hall's taxing power and the community's borrowing capacity.
To generate money, authorities issue debt, sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars at a time, and increase rates. When customers protest and question cost increases, though, the information to answer them is more limited than it would be for, say, a school district or city government.
Authorities have to pay to operate and maintain these public assets. Then there are new, stricter water quality standards that require system upgrades many authorities say they're struggling to finance, says state Municipal Authorities Association Deputy Director John Brosious.
As for accountability, state law requires authorities to hire a CPA to review their finances every year, as other public entities do, says Brosious.
But they are rarely given close inspection beyond that.
Read the full version of this reportat Keystone Crossroads' website. Keystone Crossroads is a new statewide public media initiative reporting on the challenges facing Pennsylvania's cities. WPSU is a participating station.
