This Week’s Top Agenda Items

• City property taxes slated to go up 20%
• City council passes a budget that is $15 million more than the mayor’s
• Anchor organizations named to “Stop the Violence”

City property taxes slated to go up 20% 🔗

Pittsburgh homeowners may soon see a 20% increase on their property tax bill.

Council voted six to three to increase property taxes. The change adds $161 a year for every $100,000 in property value to residents’ tax bills.

Accounting for expected delinquencies, the increase will garner $28.3 million in 2026. The additional revenue will mostly cover the expected shortfall of $30 million over what Mayor Ed Gainey had budgeted for utility costs, overtime pay and fleet maintenance.

Council was not unanimous in its support.

Council Member Anthony Coghill of Beechview cited $8 million in recent savings by canceling two comprehensive plan contracts and denying a $6 million salt storage facility. He said the city should explore additional avenues for savings.

Council Member Bob Charland of the South Side, who voted for the tax increase, expressed concern about the city’s financial independence. “We don’t want to see the city go into Act 47 which I believe, without doing this, we’re cratering towards.” Pittsburgh spent 2003-2018 under the state’s Act 47 financial guidance program.

Several council members expressed frustration that UPMC and the other large non-profits are exempt from paying property taxes. According to PublicSource, those exemptions for the “Big Five” totaled $34.5 million in 2022.

Gainey ran on trying to force non-profits to pay taxes, and his attempt to engage in a “payment in lieu of tax” program with UPMC never came to fruition.

The last time the city raised property taxes was in 2014, one year after the county last assessed property values. The county, alongside the school district, also passed tax increases for 2026.

Gainey has until Dec. 30 to veto the increase. Council only needs six votes to override a veto. If the increase holds, it will go into effect Jan. 1.

City council passes a budget that is $15 million more than the mayor’s 🔗

After over 40 hours of public meetings, hearings, discussions, and seemingly endless votes, council passed the 2026 budget.

The council budget totaled $693.2 million, about $15 million more than Mayor Ed Gainey’s proposal.

Big ticket changes included an additional $10 million for vehicles and equipment, $8 million for overtime pay for the bureaus of emergency medical services and fire and $6.5 million for utilities. It also reflected Council President R. Daniel Lavelle of the Upper Hill District’s $5 million reduction in the Stop the Violence Fund. 

Incoming Mayor Corey O’Connor requested early personnel changes as well. Notably, he wants to go back to the director of finance and the city treasurer being two distinct positions. They are currently combined into one.

A few council members expressed uneasiness about granting requests from a non-sitting administration without anyone present for discussion. They said, however, they wanted to make a gesture of good will.

O’Connor’s changes reflect an increase from Gainey’s proposal although they are a decrease from 2025 spending.

The new budget will remain open for five weeks after the new mayor is sworn in. Council expects to revisit it with the O’Connor administration after Jan. 5.

Anchor organizations named to “Stop the Violence” 🔗

Council approved the first five anchor organizations for the Stop the Violence Fund.

Solomon Armstead, a supervisor in the Office of Community Services and Violence Prevention, said at the Dec. 22 committee meeting with council that community anchors will support smaller organizations that also receive money from the Stop the Violence Fund. The organizations will, among other things, work to prevent violence by teaching families and children how to effectively deal with conflict. The larger organizations will also get the word out about programs and provide administrative tasks like data collection. 

A change to the fund earlier this year instituted anchor organizations, one for each police zone. The agreements total $2,628,710 with each group’s funding split across three years.

The first cohort of anchors includes:

• Neighborhood Resilience Project (Zone 2), $376,562
• A Giving Heart (Zone 3), $585,683
• Center of Life (Zone 4), $638,466
• Trade Institute of Pittsburgh (Zone 5), $600,000
• Helping Ourselves Produce Excellence for Tomorrow, Inc. (Zone 6), $428,000

Fifteen organizations responded to the request for proposals. According to the fiscal impact statement for the legislation, however, the city did not receive a “suitable” proposal for Zone 1. Armstead said they will reopen the request for that zone.

David Jones, the assistant director of public safety said the work of the organizations will allow the city to expand its Safe Passage Program into some of the public elementary schools. There, they can connect with both students and their families. “We know that’s where things kind of start,” he said.