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City councilors say they want some accountability --- and firm numbers --- on the costs of operating the Palisades Ballroom.

At a budget hearing Tuesday night, several members of council quizzed City Administrator Dennis Pittman on the purpose of a $48,000 line item earmarked for running the ballroom and the adjoining McKees Point Marina.

The $48,000 appropriation includes $12,000 for part-time, "casual" help employed at the marina in the summer, $12,000 toward the salary of marina manager Ray Dougherty, and a $24,000 subsidy that's supposed to be reimbursed by the authority, Pittman said.

The ballroom is owned by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of McKeesport and operated by the non-profit McKees Point Palisades Performing Arts Corp.

Home of what is reportedly the largest wooden dance floor in Western Pennsylvania, the Palisades is a former 19th century cigar factory and car dealership.

It's had a dance floor since the 1920s and was once also operated as a roller-skating rink. Professional boxing and wrestling matches were also a staple for many years.

Owned for decades by the Speney family, it was purchased by the Redevelopment Authority in 1997. It hosts dances, concerts and community events and serves as the city's de facto convention center.

But councilors said they have yet to see an audited financial statement from the authority describing the profits and losses --- if any --- of the Palisades.

A check of the Internal Revenue Service's database by the Almanac could not find a Form 990 --- the annual income statement required of most tax-deductible corporations --- on file for the McKees Point Palisades Performing Arts Corp. under any combination of those names.

(However, many non-profits, particularly those with income less than $25,000 per year, are not required to file Form 990 reports.)

Councilman Darryl Segina, who this year retired as chair of the International Village committee, said the Palisades should be providing the city with a detailed, audited statement similar to that provided by the annual ethnic food and folk music festival --- which, he noted, turned a profit this year.

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Also Tuesday night, council held a hearing on a proposal to raise parking fines. The penalty for illegally parking in a handicapped parking space would go from $50 to $250, while certain other illegal parking fines would go from $10 to $50.

Solicitor J. Jason Elash said the fine for handicapped parking had apparently not been increased since 1979, and that the new fines would be more in line with other municipalities. According to the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, the fine for illegally parking in a handicapped space in that city is $200, and other fines range from $11 to $50.

McKeesport has been "judiciously" going after parking scofflaws since August 2008, Pittman said, with two tag officers --- police Officer Mike Mihalko and city treasurer's office employee Iris Russ --- assigned to track down repeat offenders. The effort has generated about $25,000 in additional revenue, he said.

Segina called on city administrators to attack other neglected sources of revenue. "It's like a dripping faucet," he said, "and the revenues that we could have had are going down the drain."

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The $19 million spending plan proposed by Mayor Jim Brewster for 2010 is more than $1 million smaller than the 2009 budget. Council is expected to approve the budget at its meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday night.