Pittsburgh Council proposes another plan for spending park tax money

Pittsburgh would use a plan created by the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy as a template for spending revenue generated by the city’s controversial parks tax under a resolution introduced in city council Tuesday.

Two council members — Anthony Coghill and Deb Gross — who opposed the tax, said the resolution sponsored by Councilman Ricky Burgess was premature.

“I have a lot of questions for (the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy) before we move anywhere with them as far as I’m concerned,” said Coghill. “We are going to move on with getting other council representatives’ opinions on how they should see this thing go, but certainly to go all in with the PPC at this point is way too early.”

City voters last year approved a 0.5 mill property tax increase to fund park improvements citywide. The tax increase would cost property owners $50 for every $100,000 of assessed value and is expected to raise about $10 million annually. The money will be deposited into a trust fund and used exclusively for park improvements.

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy spearheaded the initiative with support from Mayor Bill Peduto.

Coghill and Gross in January proposed a bill that would have split the tax revenue evenly each year among the city’s nine council districts, but council last week scrapped that plan over concerns about an equitable distribution of the money. Coghill and Gross said they would work to craft new legislation that equitably funds park improvements.

Burgess has argued that an equal split is unfair because parks in the city’s poorest neighborhoods need the most attention.

The conservancy’s Parks Plan calls for $57.9 million spending on parks from 2020 to 2025, including $10 million on 18 parks in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. It also calls for about $22 million for park maintenance over six years, nearly $12 million for rehabilitation projects, $2.5 million on programming and nearly $12 million on planning, administration and contingencies.

Burgess said the plan provides equitable funding for parks and would lead to greater equity among all city residents. He said four or five of the worst maintained parks are in his district.

“Its seems to me that since the vote of the residents was based on this plan we should adopt it as officially the city’s plan so the voters will receive the benefits as they were promised before the vote,” he said. “Since it was a promise we made to the residents it should be a promise kept.”

The conservancy released a statement saying it was pleased Burgess is supporting the plan.

“The Parks Plan, developed by the Parks Conservancy in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh, is a comprehensive equitable investment strategy, driven by data and community input,” it said. “Ultimately it is the plan that the people of Pittsburgh voted ‘yes’ to on Nov. 5, 2019. We look forward to working alongside city officials, as we have for the past 24 years, as we continue our mission of restoring Pittsburgh’s parks to excellence.”

Council has yet to vote on bills to authorize collection of the tax in 2020 and create the trust fund.