Pittsburgh councilwoman proposes 30% tax hike to fund 2026 budget

Pittsburgh Councilwoman Barb Warwick plans to introduce Tuesday legislation that would raise real estate taxes by 30%.

Warwick and her colleagues have raised concerns the 2026 budget proposed by outgoing Mayor Ed Gainey is unrealistic and does not account for all of the city’s expenses.

Officials have said they will need to increase revenues or cut costs — or a combination of both — to keep the city afloat next year.

“This is something no elected official wants to do, but it is the responsible thing to do,” Warwick, D-Greenfield, said Monday in a press release.

“Times are tough for everyone right now, but after 11 years without a tax increase, the city needs additional revenue in order to keep providing the core services that our residents deserve and depend on.”

Warwick’s measure would raise the millage rate to 10.48 from 8.06. A mill represents $1 in taxes for each $1,000 of property value.

The tax hike would generate an estimated $41 million more for the city each year, Warwick said.

A resident whose home is assessed at $100,000 would pay an additional $20.17 a month, Warwick said, or just over $242 per year.

Currently, a Pittsburgher living in a home of that value pays about $806 in real estate taxes annually.

“For years Council has had conversations about long-term budget concerns without taking any action to rectify the problem,” Warwick said in a statement. “And with our large nonprofits refusing to step up and pay their fair share, we simply can’t put it off any longer.”

Not all council members concur.

‘A lot of fat’

Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, said he can’t support a tax increase. He’s focused instead on finding areas where the city can cut spending. That includes an effort to claw back a portion of the $6 million the city allocated for a controversial comprehensive plan.

“I don’t feel like we’ve earned the right to raise taxes at this point,” Coghill said. “We’re in this position because council, as well as this administration, have made bad decisions in the last four years. And that’s why we’re here.”

He pointed to spending on things like the comprehensive plan and a costly bond to support affordable housing initiatives as examples where officials should have curbed spending.

Rather than looking to increase taxes, Coghill said he wants to look at spending cuts, including possible reductions to the workforce.

“There’s a lot of fat to trim there,” he said.

Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, echoed Coghill’s sentiment, calling for “freezes or cutbacks” rather than a tax hike.

“I think that Councilwoman Warwick is doing what she thinks is best, and I’m going to do what I think is best, and I will not vote for a tax increase,” said Kail-Smith, who is stepping down in early January. “I think we need to be good stewards of the public’s dollars.”

Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill, who chairs council’s finance committee, favors an all-of-the-above approach. She thinks a combination of reining in spending and increasing taxes would be the best solution.

Strassburger acknowledged a tax increase may be unpopular with residents, particularly as costs increase and Pittsburgh Public Schools also is contemplating a hike next year.

Allegheny County raised its millage rate this year by 36% but avoided another increase in its 2026 budget.

“I do think that property tax increases have to continue to be on the table,” she said. “The exact rate we end up agreeing on is still unknown.”

Giving Gainey another chance

Strassburger said the responsibility falls to council to pass a spending plan that accounts for all of the city’s costs and includes a reserve fund robust enough to absorb unexpected expenses.

She reiterated concerns Monday that the budget Gainey introduced does not realistically account for overtime pay, utility bills or potential refunds for the facility usage fee, a tax on out-of-town professional performers and athletes that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled was unconstitutional.

Strassburger on Tuesday also plans to introduce a will of council that asks the Gainey administration to pitch in on amending the mayor’s spending plan.

The draft document — essentially a position statement — says Gainey’s budget makes “problematic assumptions” leading to shortfalls and “does not represent a spending plan that adequately serves the needs of Pittsburgh residents.”

“While we recognize it’s council’s responsibility to amend and pass a budget — we have the power of the purse strings, certainly — we wanted to, at the very least, in a formal way, give the mayor and his team the opportunity to respond to some of our concerns,” Strassburger said.

Councilman Bob Charland, D-South Side, said council members are contemplating their own amendments to the budget, even as they ask the Gainey administration to take another crack at reworking its proposal.

He said council members want “to give them an opportunity to correct their mistakes and correct the errors that they’ve made…”

A public hearing on the proposed tax increase is scheduled for December 22. Council must approve a budget by the end of the year.