Roddey, Onorato clash on report

The release of a routine annual report on Allegheny County finances on Thursday caused the first real sparks to fly in the race for chief executive between incumbent Jim Roddey and challenger Dan Onorato.

Roddey, a Republican seeking a second four-year term, and Onorato, the county controller and Democratic candidate for chief executive, held back-to-back news conferences at the county courthouse, Downtown, concerning the 2002 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report -- also know as the CAFR.

Roddey accused Onorato, who prepared the CAFR, of releasing a final version of the report to the media before letting him see it.

"It's highly unusual that the controller would have a press conference and talk about the contents of the county's financial statement and not provide the administration its own annual report. I would characterize that action as being immature, discourteous and very unprofessional," Roddey said.

Onorato fired back that Roddey's "statements are just not true."

"He's had a copy of every number in the CAFR for a week," Onorato said.

Roddey acknowledged he received a "preliminary" report, but said he didn't know whether it was the same as the document Onorato released to the media.

The two officials, who are running unopposed for their respective party's nominations in the May 20 primary, agreed on basic numbers in the report, but disagreed on the interpretations.

The report showed that the county's general fund balance grew during 2002 from $46.1 million to $47.4 million -- a $1.3 million increase. During the same 12 months, the "undesignated" general fund balance increased from $23.9 million to $27.2 million -- a $3.3 million jump. Generally, the general fund balance represents the county's checking account while the undesignated fund acts more like a savings account.

"There is a story in these numbers," Onorato said. "In the fund balance, what you see is that we had to use out of the savings account to the tune of about $10.3 million."

Onorato said the $10.3 million was pumped into the general fund by "one-time adjustments that bumped up the fund balance." The biggest adjustment was a $9.1 million transfer of idle money from the county's debt service fund.

"The county is hanging in there (economically)," he said. However, "it always concerns me when you rely on one-time adjustments."

Roddey disputed Onorato's interpretation, saying the transfers "are not one-time items, but will occur each year in the future." He claimed Onorato was putting "politics ahead of the concern of the community and the taxpayers."

"He should be recognizing that the county is doing a good job," Roddey said. "He can make all the political comments he wants about assessments and economic development ... but to use the county's fiscal condition for politics, I think is absolutely wrong."

Onorato claimed it was Roddey who politicized the release of the report, using numbers prepared by his own staff "to put a spin on the Roddey re-election campaign."

They disagreed sharply on numbers in the report indicating the county had increased property tax collections by $36.4 million over the past three years.

"When you take out (taxes collected) on new construction, the number is probably $30 million, and the bulk of that is related to property reassessments," Onorato said.

Not so, said Roddey. He maintained the county collected 1.5 percent less in property tax money during the same period -- factoring out new construction.

"The controller literally does not know what he's talking about," Roddey said.

Onorato described the chief executive's response to the report "a classic Roddey move."

"When anybody ... exposes the truth about the tax increase, Jim Roddey resorts to name calling," he charged.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey and county Controller Dan Onorato, who will face off as general election opponents in the race for county executive, each have more than $1 million in their campaign war chests, according to campaign finance reports to be filed today.

Roddey, a Republican seeking a second four-year term, has about $1.3 million cash on hand. The Roddey camp has raised $910,000 since December, including $329,956 in the reporting period from Jan. 1 through May 5. Roddey is unopposed for the GOP nomination in the May 20 primary.

Onorato, a Democrat who is unopposed for his party's nomination, has $1.2 million in the bank. The Onorato campaign has raised $889,900 since the first of the year.

The general election is Nov. 4.