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Allegheny County Council

$5 million in unspent bond interest will help buy a long-leased medical examiner’s building.

Written by Amy Whipple

After 20 years of renting the medical examiner’s office, Allegheny County is ready to purchase the Strip District building.

County council approved the $4.3 million purchase during its June 9 meeting.

County Manager John Fournier said during the June 4 economic development committee meeting that, under the lease, the county has been responsible for utility payments as well as capital and maintenance costs. “We have all the obligations of ownership, except we pay rent,” he said.

The lease came with a purchase option that became available this year. Fournier said the $4.3 million price tag was “substantially lower” than the building’s appraised value. Owning the building will save $410,000 annually.

To facilitate the purchase of the building, the Department of Management and Budget requested money from the $160 million in bonds that covered the 2024 and 2025 capital budgets.

Director Tim Cox said during the June 4 budget and finance committee meeting that investing cash from the bonds has yielded “significant interest” and the county now has approximately $7.5 million in unappropriated funds. “This is a good problem that we have,” he said.

He asked council to authorize $5 million of that balance to be spent on the purchase of the building. The $700,000 difference between the purchase price and the funding request will cover closing costs and some capital improvements.

Connections to this story

Topics:
City Budget & Fiscal
Governments:
Allegheny County Council
Public meetings:
Allegheny County Council Regular Meeting · June 9, 2026
Sources:
Ordinance 13970-26 — AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA (THE “COUNTY”), SETTING FORTH ITS INTENT TO ISSUE…Ordinance 13955-26 — granting permission for the County of Allegheny to purchase from the Buncher Company the building that houses the…

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