Pittsburgh city controller's annual report has stark warning about city's financial future
Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler released her annual report on Thursday with a stark warning about the city's financial future.
Heisler paints a bleak picture of the city's finances in her annual report, saying the city needs to grow or face continued decline.
Pittsburgh city controller's annual report explained
The 200-page annual report describes a fiscally strapped city lacking the revenue to meet its needs. The report says the city's fleet is breaking down, there aren't enough cops and the overtime to pay them is being rapidly depleted.
"I am very concerned about where things are headed," Heisler said. "I think it's important that the city, both leadership and city residents, are mindful of our current financial position."
For the past several years, the city has relied on tens of millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds to make ends meet. But those have now dried up. At the time, real estate values, especially Downtown, have plunged, with tax revenues falling with them.
And the city has been unable to reach an agreement with the major non-profit organizations to provide payments in lieu of taxes.
With less money to spend, Heisler says the city has budgeted only $6 million for its hobbled vehicle fleet and projects spending less than $3 million in each of the years to come.
"Is that sustainable with what everybody contends is a fleet in deplorable condition?" KDKA's Andy Sheehan asked.
"Absolutely not," Heisler said.
"If you said you need to pick where more money is going to be allocated, it would be the fleet," she added. "Ambulances are breaking down. Fire trucks are breaking down. If you go down to the city garage, there's a waiting list."
The administration says it has anticipated the shortage of revenues and has budgeted responsibly without raising taxes. As the year progresses, it says it can shift money around to plug the shortfalls. But Corey O'Connor, Ed Gainey's opponent in the upcoming Democratic primary, reacted by saying the mayor has been hiding the city's fiscal condition and faces a looming deficit.
"The latest financial report drives home what I've been saying since day one of this campaign: Mayor Gainey is not being honest and transparent when it comes to the city's budget," O'Connor said.
But to really turn this around, Heisler says the city needs to grow. More businesses, more jobs and more of the city's college students deciding to stay and work here.
In a statement, the Gainey administration said, "The final, audited 2024 numbers in the report reflect what we expected to see: a budget basis surplus and a strong fund balance. The administration takes the controller's considerations seriously and we will continue to closely monitor the city's revenues and expenditures this fiscal year."
