PITTSBURGH — The Port Authority of Allegheny County has run up a $28 million pension fund deficit by letting top executives approve lavish benefits for themselves, Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner said Monday.

Wagner said he released his preliminary audit findings Monday so they can be considered when the Port Authority board meets later this month to vote on plans to cut service and raise fares in the face of a projected $80 million budget deficit.

"These generous offerings were developed by management for management at the expense of the taxpayers of Allegheny County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," Wagner said in a letter to Port Authority CEO Stephen Bland.

Last month, Wagner criticized the Port Authority, which provides bus and light-rail service, for leasing high-end office space downtown when it still owns a half-vacant office building that used to house its corporate offices.

The Port Authority announced Monday that it planned to curb pension spending by enacting several of the reforms Wagner proposed.

Wagner said managers were allowed to buy back unlimited years of service from other public agencies to help them qualify for the 25-year service threshold to receive a pension. The authority also allowed managers to become vested in the pension fund after five years of service, while union workers are vested after 10 years.

The Port Authority also approved an extra $500 a month for early retirees until they reached 62 and let managers accrue unlimited sick leave that counted toward their 25-year pension service threshold.

The authority also created a deferred retirement program that let 44 top managers "retire" and receive benefits while still working in those jobs up to five years, Wagner found. Those workers received or were eligible to receive more than $9 million in payouts.