Continuing the county’s triple-digit case streak Wednesday, the Allegheny County Health Department [ACHD] announced 158 new COVID-19 infections and 12 new hospitalizations. No new deaths were announced.
Thursday’s announcement brings the total case count to 4,367 infections, 196 deaths and 443 past and present hospitalizations.
As statewide cases rise to 92,867, Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday announced a new moratorium to evictions and foreclosures for failure to pay. The order extends protection through August, as a prior order was set to expire after July 10. Protection applies to individuals who are not receiving housing aid from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency or from similar federal programs.
The state announced 719 new cases for Thursday and 36 new deaths. The current death toll statewide is 6,848.
As cases spread, the economic harm of COVID-19 also continues.
Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb said Thursday that the city normally would collect about $30 million the first half of the year in parking revenue but so far has collected only $12 million. And the amusement tax, which is normally a source of about $17 million in revenue, has only totaled about $4 million, mostly from events from last year.
In his mid-year update on the city’s finances, Lamb called on the federal government to pass a stimulus for local governments similar to the one passed to help small businesses. “Just like any other business or nonprofit organization, we are employers,” he said. “There should be something similar for state and local governments so they can continue to keep their employees on payroll rather than go to massive layoffs.”
Still, many important areas of revenue didn’t take as big of a hit as expected, including property taxes and deed transfer real estate taxes. Permit fees for residential construction have actually increased, according to Lamb, though fees for commercial construction have fallen. Earned income tax revenue has also increased, and Lamb said he thinks this might not be impacted much by the fall in federal unemployment compensation at the end of July.
Lamb said Pittsburgh’s economy could be more resilient than other cities because it hasn’t seen layoffs from its major employers, like UPMC or PNC.
“The hit is significant but maybe not as significant as we initially thought,” Lamb said.
Some businesses continue to feel the pain of pandemic-related shutdowns.
The office of Michael Lamb, Pittsburgh’s city controller, located in the City-County Building/ (Photo by Kat Procyk/PublicSource)
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Statewide eviction moratorium extended through August; Pittsburgh’s revenue takes hit from pandemic
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