Pittsburgh to use money from anti-violence trust fund on parks, recreation

Money from Pittsburgh’s anti-violence trust fund can now be used on parks and recreation projects.

City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to allow up to 10% of the money in the Stop the Violence trust fund to go to the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, D-Hill District, said the extra cash could help improve recreation centers and increase youth programming.

The measure also changed the proportion of trust fund money that can be used internally. Under existing rules, the trust fund had to allocate 60% of its budget to outside organizations. That money has gone to nonprofits across the city in the form of grants.

The rest of the money is used internally, with much of it funding the Office of Community Health and Safety, which hires social workers, helps with homeless outreach, responds to drug overdoses and works to reduce violence.

The legislation approved Tuesday changes the allocation requirements so that half of the money in the trust fund can be used internally and half must go to outside organizations.

The measure also put a cap on how much money can go into the fund at $10 million per year.

This comes despite concerns from some city leaders about how much money the city gives out in grants and how little accountability there is once the money goes to outside entities. Council passed legislation requiring reporting from the recipients of Stop the Violence grants, but officials have said recipients are largely not submitting the required form.

“We are struggling every day to pay our bills in the city of Pittsburgh … yet we’re giving money hand over fist to grant money,” Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, said. “We cannot continue to hand money out when we don’t have the money to do the things that we’re responsible to do.”