Pittsburgh City Council Budget Director Bill Urbanic is retiring, and the office’s budget manager is leaving for a new position.
City Council on Tuesday recognized Urbanic, as well as their budget manager Michael Strelic, who is leaving the city to become the township manager for Ligonier.
“We know you are the unsung heroes of this city,” Councilwoman Erika Strassburger told them.
Urbanic, of the city’s Duquesne Heights neighborhood, began working in city government in July 1989 in Councilwoman Michelle Madoff’s office, where he penned legislation regarding the city’s noise ordinance, bond issues and aging issues, Council President Theresa Kail-Smith read from a proclamation in his honor.
He became City Council’s budget director in 2006. In that role, he assisted in the city’s Act 47 plans, created the concept of using the parking asset for the pension and helped codify best fiscal practices.
During his tenure, he worked with 54 different members of City Council, Kail-Smith said.
“It’s been a long ride,” Urbanic said. “I’ve had a great time.”
He thanked his “work family,” and said he looked forward to enjoying retirement.
“Over this long stretch of years, to this city you have been faithful,” Councilman Ricky Burgess said.
“Your legacy will live on forever here,” Councilman Anthony Coghill added.
Several councilmembers credited Urbanic for helping them to better understand the budget process.
“Without you, none of us would understand the budget process as well as we do,” Councilman Corey O’Connor told him.
Strelic’s work with the city began in 2007, when he interned for then-City Council President Doug Shields. He has been council’s budget manager for about five year.
He assisted Urbanic in crafting the parking asset for the pension plan and helped the city navigate the financial ramifications of the covid-19 pandemic, Kail-Smith said as she read a proclamation for him. He worked on 15 budgets, totaling more than $9 million.
Strelic’s last day with the city is Friday.
“You have both been invaluable to me as a councilperson, to council as a whole and to the city as a whole,” Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle told Urbanic and Strelic.
