Pittsburgh city controller sends letter to mayor, council over budget concerns

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler is sounding the alarm about the city’s 2024 budget and revenue projections.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Mayor Ed Gainey and members of city council, and obtained by Channel 11, she “strongly encouraged re-open[ing] the budget to amend 2024 revenue expectations.”

Otherwise, she said the city could face a nearly $10 million deficit.

Councilwoman Erika Strassburger supports reopening the budget.

“The letter absolutely brings up legitimate concerns,” Strassburger said.

One of those concerns is Pittsburgh’s facility usage fee, or 3% “Jock Tax”, for non-city resident athletes or performers who play at city venues like Acrisure Stadium, PPG Paints Arena, or PNC Park.

A court injunction is preventing the city from collecting that tax and Heisler says leaving it in budget projections would create a more than $4 million hole.

“Our budget needs to be transparent and open and this is part of it, reflecting the actual taxes that are being collected,” Strassburger said.

The other potential issue raised by Heisler is recent downtown property reassessments coming in much lower than expected for many large buildings.

She projects the city is losing out on more than $5 million in property tax revenue.

Council President Daniel Lavelle supports adjusting the budget but says it’s too soon to know what that change will look like since property owners still have until the end of the month to file for reassessment.

“Right now, I don’t think we should change any number relative to tax revenue from property assessments in our budget because we simply don’t know what that number will be,” Lavelle said.

Both Lavelle and Strassburger say the city was already planning to reopen the budget to include changes from new public safety union contracts.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group