City, casino negotiate payment

noted he was encouraged by his early conversations with the casino.

The casino had filed a lawsuit in late June piggybacking on the Mount Airy litigation. It withdrew it about a month later but did not say why. Mr. Acklin called it a “show of good faith.”

“It would be fantastic if Pittsburgh and its casino could speak with one voice in leading this effort in Harrisburg toward a permanent fix of the local share assessment that the court found to be flawed,” he said.

The Supreme Court gave the Legislature 120 days to correct the defects and legislators have vowed to act quickly, although there is some concern the correction could get bogged down with other proposals to expand gambling.

Mr. Acklin said any remedy that provided the city with less than $10 million a year would be “unacceptable.”

“All we’re looking for is that the promises that were made to the residents of the city 10 years ago ... that those promises are kept, because the city and the residents relied on those promises to our detriment, perhaps,” he said.

As a backup, the city, he stressed, is prepared to use legal means to maintain the payments. It is studying possible federal litigation over the issue.

“If our revenue sources are being raided by trial lawyers taking action in courts, then that’s going to create a very significant problem and financial issue for us in running the city,” he said.

The potential loss of the money comes about a month after the city settled a lawsuit with the Pittsburgh Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, its financial overseer, that freed up $18 million in gambling funds that were being withheld.