PITTSBURGH — Weeks after revealing the city was five years away from running out of reserve funding, Pittsburgh leaders announced a series of reforms Tuesday aimed at increasing transparency and cracking down on a mayor’s ability to spend money without the council’s authorization.
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The reforms, supported by current Mayor Corey O’Connor, also begin to tackle issues that were exposed by the growing investigation into former Mayor Ed Gainey’s practices.
Among the reforms are items that increased the council’s ability to act as a check on the mayor’s office, including additional mandatory meetings to discuss the budget and training for new council members.
There will also be a dashboard for the public to track spending on employee credit cards and tighter rules about spending on those cards.
More people, including Controller Rachael Heisler, will also get access to the city’s budgeting software so they can examine spending in real time.
Investigators are looking into whether Gainey used his spending authority to funnel money to allies using “no-bid” contracts, including money that was intended to address violence and poverty within the city.
He left the city with at least a $20 million deficit instead of the small surplus he projected to have, O’Connor and Heisler previously reported.
“The information that this will provide our office will allow us to see problems more quickly,” Heisler said.
The hope, leaders added, was that a tax increase could be avoided as the city worked its way out of the financial mess, though O’Connor did not make any promises.
He pointed to major development projects, like the Station Square overhaul, as opportunities for the city to raise more money.
“[If] we can put more money in the coffers, then we don’t have to do something like [raise taxes],” he said.
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