Coronavirus In Pittsburgh: City Says Revenue Is Down 25 Percent
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It is a good news/bad news scenario when it comes to finances for the city of Pittsburgh in the midst of COVID-19. The city has cut spending, yet income has been drastically sliced largely due to constraints caused by the pandemic.
The City of Pittsburgh says its revenue is down 25 percent amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The good news: from March through May 8 this year compared to last, there's been a spending drop of 7 percent, or $7.7 million.
The bad news? The city says the Office of Management and Budget reports from March through May 8 of this year, revenues were at $94.4 million, compared to $126.3 million last year. That's a loss of about $31.9 million, or 25 percent.
"The City is holding its own through frugal spending but the gaps between our revenues and expenditures are likely to widen further," Mayor Bill Peduto said in a press release.
"With the help of City Council and the leaders of all City departments we will have to keep a hard watch on spending until the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic become clearer."
According to the city, payroll, parking, earned income and property taxes are most impacted by the economic hardship and it's estimated that those four combined will account for $97 million in losses this year.
In response, the city entered a hiring freeze, with Mayor Peduto saying the city wouldn't fill 64 open positions. That could save as much as $3 million for the year 2020.
The city is also looking at slicing paring all non-personnel spending for all departments by ten percent.
