Pittsburgh leaders ready to turn page on city's finances
Pittsburgh leaders are trying to turn the page on the city's finances.
On Tuesday, leaders announced ways to strengthen oversight and give Pittsburgh City Council and the public a clearer picture of the city's financial status.
The city hasn't been immune to fiscal challenges, as it now faces a $250 million deficit during the next five years. City government said part of the problem has to do with communication between the administration and council, with some and not others privy to certain numbers.
"Revenue was significantly overinflated, and long-term expenses were not accurately accounted for," Councilmember Erika Strassburger said. "If we can't hold ourselves accountable and seek transparency in our budgeting process, we could again find ourselves in the same position in the future."
To do that, Strassburger said they need to make some difficult choices, especially as Mayor Corey O'Connor's proposed budget doesn't raise taxes or cut city services or programs, something they don't want to do.
Instead, Strassburger introduced a package of reforms, some that will need approval legislatively, and others simply new procedures now in place.
The first category is focused on government seeing problems sooner, giving the city controller access to the budgeting software, and post-quarterly agenda hearings between the administration and council, both of which they have already started doing.
"Members can ensure revenue shortfalls or cost overruns come to light ahead of time, so every branch of government can collaboratively and proactively address budgetary concerns," Strassburger said.
The second category has to do with tightening control over how the city spends tax dollars, with stricter rules for the city's purchasing cards and reimbursements along with a public dashboard breaking down this spending by department.
The third category is to help rebuild trust with the budget figures council is presented with. This includes training for new council members and staffers with an intro on how the city's budget works.
They're changes the mayor and city controller welcome, saying change won't happen overnight, but it's a step in the right direction.
"These are great changes that needed to probably happen 20 years ago, and shame on us for not doing it a long time ago. But now here's what we are in, and here's council coming together with our administration to make sure that things like this don't happen in the future," O'Connor said.
Strassburger said she expects Pittsburgh City Council will introduce more bills that would give members a chance to act before money is moved between funds or spent.
