After Mayor Ed Gainey introduced a preliminary budget proposing no layoffs and no tax increase, some Pittsburgh City Council members and the city controller said both may be needed to fund essential services. 

The budget, released on Tuesday, came amid concerns over the city's aging fleet of vehicles and drastic understaffing, resulting in burnout and runaway overtime. The city also faces the end of federal COVID-19 relief funding and a drop in tax assessments on Downtown buildings.

"Though the circumstances we were facing did require some adjustments, it wasn't a big enough shift needed to necessitate a tax increase," Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said. 

City Controller Rachael Heisler said the budget is "unrealistic," saying, "We need to be honest with people."   

Heisler says Gainey's budget leaves it to city council or the next mayor to make the tough choices. She said the budget is trying to avoid tough choices by drawing down $35 million from the reserve fund, otherwise known as the "rainy day" fund. 

"It's called a rainy day fund for a reason," Heisler said. "We can't use it for the operation of city government year over year. It is for an emergency. The daily operation of city government should not be considered an emergency."

But even with that drawdown, she said the budget willfully underfunds projected overtime costs and doesn't effectively address the condition of the fleet, which is continually lining up at the repair garage to extend vehicles past their useful life. 

"This budget does not address the fact that we have a fleet that is almost all over its lifespan," Heisler said. "It invests $25 million over a five-year window. We should be investing $20, $25 million a year."

"So it appears council or the next mayor has to either raise taxes or make dramatic cuts?" KDKA's Andy Sheehan asked Heisler. 

"The realistic outcome is we will likely need a mileage increase," she said. "We will likely need to see a reduction in staff."

The Gainey administration says increases in wage and real estate taxes outside of Downtown have given the city some breathing room, but city council members agree with Heisler that the budget is underfunding essential services.  And even Gainey's ally, Pittsburgh City Council President Daniel LaValle, says the council needs to look at ways to close the gap. 

"The budget just came out a little over a day ago, so I haven't read it in detail," LaValle said. "But there are certainly concerns within it. It doesn't also look good in terms of the five-year projections, but our job is to make the tough decisions."

It will be up to city council over the next few months to cut this budget to the bone, deciding which city services are essential and which are not. And then if necessary, vote to raise taxes.