Something extraordinary happened Thursday in Pittsburgh. A news conference was called to announce the O’Connor administration is reopening the 2026 budget, and with the City Council, will make budget cuts to reduce red ink.
Mayor Corey O’Connor told reporters the deficit could be as high as $30-40 million. And that’s after a 20% property tax hike.
What happened? The mayor said his predecessor’s budget relied on inaccurate forecasts and false assumptions. City Controller Rachel Heisler previously warned of revenue shortfalls and predicted a deficit and was ignored.
The mayor’s bold budget decision is the latest of several that demonstrate he is engaged and proactive.
His nominees to head up the police and public safety departments were made before O’Connor was sworn in.
The mayor addressed criticism of the city’s snow removal efforts, promised improvement and later announced more than millions of dollars in donations to add new plow trucks to the city’s fleet.
A plan to streamline the permitting process was recently announced.
Mayor O’Connor is addressing the most urgent issues the city is facing and has done it in just over 60 days.
Getting back to reopening the budget to make needed cuts, when was the last time you heard a politician say let’s spend less?