Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato this afternoon said he will not fight a judge's order requiring him to use all excess revenue collected from the county's drink and car rental levies only on the Port Authority.

Instead, Mr. Onorato said he plans to give all the $12 million he collected in excess from both levies to the Port Authority for capital improvements in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. That will free up $12 million the county would have borrowed to fund the transit agency's capital needs, he said.

As for the $12 million hole created in the county's 2009 budget because Common Pleas Judge Judith F. Olson ruled that excess revenue from the levies cannot be used for county road and bridge projects, Mr. Onorato said the county will devise a way of "living within our means."

"I will not rule out any mid-year budget adjustments," he added. That could mean mid-year layoffs, he said, "but we're going to try and prevent layoffs."

Vowing not to raise property taxes, Mr. Onorato said that even though he disagreed with Judge Olson's ruling, it was broad enough to allow him to spend the excess revenue at the Port Authority in a way that allows him to save the county money in other areas.