COUNTY CONTROLLER CHELSA WAGNER EXPECTS FULL REPAYMENT BY HERTZ TO COUNTY, FOR SIGNIFICANT RECOVERY FOR PORT AUTHORITY BUDGET

Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner today commended County Treasurer John Weinstein for seeking full repayment, including penalties and interest, of three-quarters of a million dollars that is owed to the County by the Hertz Corporation. Last month, Wagner announced that an audit uncovered $743,107 in unpaid taxes from Hertz for underpayment of rental car taxes at the Pittsburgh International Airport. It also found an additional $17,153 in unreported revenue that was owed to the Airport Authority.
 
“This is a significant recovery for Allegheny County’s taxpayers,” Wagner said. “I am pleased that the Treasurer’s Office is pursuing payback of this three-quarters of a million dollars that is owed to the County. It is vital that we continue to maintain accountability in all County operations, and that includes our authorities. This recovery demonstrates why it is so important for County taxpayers.”
 
According to County rules, a two-dollar Rental Vehicle Tax is to be collected per day, per each rented vehicle, by all rental car companies in Allegheny County, including locations at the Airport, then remitted to the County Treasurer’s Office on a monthly basis. Wagner’s audit found that Hertz failed to remit $435,577 for operations at the Airport. As a result, Hertz is also responsible for $307,530 in applicable penalties and interest, and therefore owes $743,107.
 
Wagner announced last month that her office uncovered the unpaid taxes and that she will initiate an expanded audit of Hertz’s airport submissions back to 2008, when the car rental tax was enacted.
 
Controller Wagner is the first controller to audit car rental companies at Pittsburgh International Airport, which she began in 2012, in cooperative agreement with the Treasurer’s Office to achieve greater efficiencies for the County. The car rental tax was enacted, along with the “drink tax”, in 2008. As part of a larger effort of contract reviews at County authorities, Controller Wagner began an audit of contracts at the Pittsburgh International Airport last month.