Pittsburgh City Council advances proposal to study mergers, annexations with neighboring municipalities

Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday amended and advanced legislation that would allow it to explore potential mergers or annexations of neighboring municipalities.

Council is considering legislation to launch broader investigations into merging with neighboring municipalities, including, but not limited to, Wilkinsburg. The legislation would not prompt a merger itself, but would pave the way for council members to more thoroughly investigate potential merger or annexation options.

This comes as City Council seems poised to vote down a measure to annex Wilkinsburg, though council members have said they will continue having conversations about the proposal in the future.

Councilman Ricky Burgess on Wednesday introduced an amendment to the advancing legislation. It specifies that the committee to lead merger investigations will be led by the finance chair, currently Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle. The committee also can consist of up to four other members appointed by the president.

The amendment tasks the committee with setting up a process for future annexations, outlining what questions would need to be addressed for a merger or annexation to occur, Burgess said.

“The idea is for us to initiate the investigation and do the fact-finding,” he said.

If passed, the measure will allow City Council to explore annexation with Wilkinsburg first, though it clears the way for it to also consider other neighboring municipalities.

Several neighboring municipalities have said they aren’t interested in merging with the city.

Councilman Bruce Kraus said he’s concerned that those municipalities may interpret the legislation to mean that the city would “take over in a hostile way.” He suggested limiting the legislation to apply only to Wilkinsburg or to apply only to neighboring municipalities who approach Pittsburgh first.

Councilman Anthony Coghill said Pittsburgh can’t take over a neighboring municipality without its consent. Other municipalities need to approach the city in the formal annexation or merger process, he said.

Kraus voted against the measure, while other members of council supported it in a preliminary vote. The legislation could be ready for a final vote next week.