Pittsburgh City Council approves 2024 budgets, taxes remain unchanged

Budgets adopted Monday by Pittsburgh City Council won’t result in a tax increase next year.

The $686 million operating budget and $158.7 million capital budget have been largely unchanged since Mayor Ed Gainey formally introduced them last month. Council made a series of tweaks last week, including giving themselves a larger pay raise than Mayor Ed Gainey had proposed.

The mayor included a 3% increase for council members in his proposed budget, but council members last week bumped it to 7.1%. On average, city employees from 2022 to 2023 received a 7.1% pay increase, according to City Council Budget Director Peter McDevitt.

Council members made $81,137 this year. The pay raise will boost their annual salaries to $86,970.

Council on Monday passed a package of budget-related bills, though some council members opposed specific pieces.

Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, and Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, voted against the measure that sets the number of officers and employees the city will budget for in 2024. The budget includes money for up to 850 uniformed police officers, down from the 900 this year. The bureau has been understaffed, but officials said they did not believe the bureau could reach the 900 marker in the coming year and would aim for 850 instead.

“I’m not voting for a number under 900,” Kail-Smith said.

Smith, Coghill and Councilwoman Deb Gross, D-Highland Park, voted against the plan for appropriating money for the Stop the Violence trust fund, which is meant to fund violence reduction programs. This came after some council members voiced concerns about giving out part of the money in the form of grants and about a lack of accountability from grant recipients.

Council this month approved legislation to allow part of the Stop the Violence funding to go to the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

Coghill also voted against an appropriations plan for the park tax trust fund. City Controller Michael Lamb recently released a report questioning how money in that fund is prioritized and whether the cash should be used for vehicles.

When he unveiled his budget plan last month, Gainey said he wanted to focus spending on improving core city services and make the city safer and more welcoming.

The budget includes a 300% spending increase on maintenance of city-owned bridges and more than $86.4 million for engineering and construction projects, including more than a dozen bridge projects.

The capital budget includes no new projects, as officials have said they’re hoping to catch up on a backlog of existing projects and fill funding gaps on ongoing initiatives.

There also is a 136% increase in funding for traffic calming projects, along with money for 20 new positions in the Office of Community Health and Safety and a dozen new civilian community service aides in the police bureau.

The budget funds 15 more staff members to the city’s environmental services team, which is responsible for garbage collection and snow plowing.

“These long-term investments in the future of our city are critical for our vision for Pittsburgh,” Gainey said in a statement.