Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor's preliminary budget calls for no tax hikes or layoffs, but he admits it's not pretty.
The mayor says his 2027 budget proposal and five-year spending plan is lean, and requires tapping into the reserves to avoid tax hikes and massive service cuts. But, that Rainy-Day fund will be depleted in the process.
“It’s there and we see it and we put the projection out, again, we’re not going to give you a gimmick that says in five years there’s 50-million dollars when its not there,” said O’Connor.
Those “gimmicks” include things like no longer using one-time funding sources to fill key staff positions.
Also, no longer using trust funds to spend tens of millions of dollars without counting them as expenditures.
The Mayor says the city needs to work on growing its tax base and working with its partners to find new revenue sources. And to do that--you can't cut core services
“If we didn’t do what we’re doing right now, you’re looking at rec centers being closed, pools being closed,” said O’Connor.
That prompted City Controller Rachael Heisler to say the Mayor and Council need to find a timeline to restore the fund in a clearly defined timeline.
Council's Budget Committee Chair Erika Strassburger likes its emphasis on efforts to try and grow the tax base, but notes the budget process is a give and take and Council will carefully review what's been submitted.
