On Tuesday, Pittsburgh City Council voted 6-3 to approve a new five-year financial recovery plan for the City of Pittsburgh. Of the 42 amendments proposed by Council Members since the introduction of the original plan, 30 of these amendments were included in the final version of this bill.  

The 30 included amendments included:

• Pursue City-County consolidation of departments
• Implement a Professional Management System for street paving, street cleaning, snow removal, and refuse collection
• Explore the option of combining fleet maintenance contracts with the County
• Create and adopt comprehensive and facilities plan

Highlights of the approved financial recovery plan include:

• Create a Regional Parks Commission that oversees all RAD parks in the County
• Commit all slots parlor revenue windfalls to paying down debt
• Institute new guidelines to ensure truth in budgeting
• Investigate a .55% Payroll Tax on non-profits
• Go after waste, fraud, and abuse to collect taxes that are not being fairly paid
• Create a comprehensive Risk Management plan
• Provide City employees with a five-year plan for increase salaries
• Investigate the feasibility of keeping a North Side EMS station open 24 hours
• Keep the Greenfield Fire Station open
• Institute new initiatives to help with police retention and recruitment
• Institute new efforts to improve diversity and pay disparity in the City’s workforce

Last Wednesday, City Council took an important step forward to create a responsible and forward-thinking five-year financial plan. The original plan that was introduced by the Administration contained several clauses that greatly concerned City Council and lacked new initiatives to create a more efficient 21st century government.

Through the leadership of Council Finance Chair Bill Peduto, Council Members Bruce Kraus and Theresa Kail-Smith, and Controller Michael Lamb, City Council offered several important amendments to the Plan.  The amendments fall under four general categories – City-County Consolidation of Services, Budget and Taxation Reform, Government
Efficiency, and Public Safety.  Some of the key features of the amendments are:

City-County Consolidation of Services

• Invsetigate consolidation services in Fleet Maintenance, IT, Payroll, Purchasing, and Tax Collection
• Create a Regional Parks Commission that oversees all RAD parks in the County

Budget and Taxation Reform

• Committing all slots parlor revenue windfalls to paying down debt
• Instituting new guidelines to ensure there is truth in budgeting
• Institute a .55% Payroll Tax on non-profits
• Go after waste, fraud, and abuse to collect taxes that are not being fairly paid

Government Efficiency

• Create a Facilities Master Plan for all City owned buildings
• Create a Recreational Master Plan for City pools, recreation centers, senior centers, and ball fields 
• Create a Fleet Master Plan
• Create a comprehensive Risk Management Plan
• Institute re-routing software to improve efficiency in street paving, snow plowing, and street cleaning

Public Safety

• Provide City employees with a five-year plan for increased salaries
• Investigate the feasability of keeping a North Side EMS station open 24 hours
• Keep open the Greenfield fire station
• Institute new initiatives to help with police retention and recruitment

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