A judge has ruled that the Allegheny County controller does not have the power to audit four countywide authorities after all.

But Controller Chelsa Wagner framed the opinion by Common Pleas Senior Judge Joseph M. James as a victory, taking a jab at the county and emphasizing his one decision in her favor: She does have the authority to conduct performance audits of county departments.

“Today is a good day for Allegheny County taxpayers,” she said in a news release. “... My auditing team is excited and eager to undertake its audit responsibilities ... beginning with our audit of the County Police — the audit which the county attempted to stop, thereby forcing this dispute into the courts.”

In March, Ms. Wagner took the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, Port Authority, Allegheny County Airport Authority, and Sports & Exhibition Authority to court after at least three of the entities questioned her office’s authority to audit them. She said she wanted to see how the SEA, which owns the city’s three major sports venues, distributes tickets to sporting and entertainment events and how the other three entities award contracts.

That legal action was joined with another in which the controller tried to enforce subpoenas against three county administrators, compelling them to discuss her proposed audit of the county police department after they didn’t show up to a meeting on the topic.

In his opinion, Judge James found that the controller has the legal authority to conduct performance audits of county departments, including the police, consistent with U.S. Government Accountability Office standards. A performance audit is different from a fiscal audit, which involves financial records. A performance audit assesses a program’s effectiveness, economy and efficiency.

Concerning her ability to audit the authorities, however, the judge wrote that all four authorities were created under specific acts of the state Legislature that give that responsibility to outside auditors and to either the state attorney general or auditor general.

“The Legislature has created several layers of safeguards to assure the public that government funds and assets are being used wisely,” he wrote.

Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs said officials needed to review the opinion before commenting.

Representatives from the airport authority, SEA and Port Authority said they were pleased with the court’s opinion and noted that they are already subject to audits from other agencies. An Alcosan spokesman said that authority hadn’t yet fully reviewed the opinion.

“Our position from the very beginning has been that we are transparent in our finances and accountable to the public,” airport authority spokesman Bob Kerlik said. “... Additionally, given that the airport authority receives no county tax dollars, this order reaffirms that there is no need for duplication of services.”

Added SEA executive director Mary Conturo: “The authority is, and will continue to be, very transparent in our operations.”

Ms. Wagner declined comment through her spokesman Lou Takacs, who said she will discuss the matter at a Monday news conference. But in the news release, she hinted that the fight isn’t over:

“The authorities’ lack of transparency is now an issue for another day and another venue. We can now begin next steps to attain transparency and accountability for these large County and City/​County authorities. This is the prime good government issue that public officials must now address.”

First Published: November 7, 2015, 5:00 a.m.