City hoping to raise taxes in order to improve parks

PITTSBURGH — The City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy want to see if people are willing to pay more in order to improve parks.

Jayne Miller, CEO of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, said the city doesn't have enough money to properly maintain all of the parks. Public Works Director Mike Gable agreed.

“We’ve made a lot of improvements over the years, but there are an awful lot of parks that need love and attention,” Gable said.

There's a proposal to raise taxes by a half mil to help pay for park maintenance and improvements.

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A half mil amounts to about $50 dollars more per year per $100,000 of assessed real-estate value.

The added tax would raise about $10 million for a new Parks Trust Fund that would be dedicated to maintaining city parks.

A petition is now circulating to gain support for the new tax.

Officials need to collect 12,500 signatures to get the question on the ballot.

The petition deadline is August 6th.

The city and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will host 11 Parks Plan meetings in July and August. To learn more about the meetings, CLICK HERE.

Cox Media Group