The City of Pittsburgh’s preliminary 2024 operating and capital budgets were made public on Sept. 30th. Formal presentation by the mayor to City Council comes next month.
The operating budget has $714.2 million in revenues and $683.7 million in expenditures for a positive operating result of $30.5 million. After transfers, at the end of 2024 the fund balance is projected to be $137.1 million, or 20 percent of spending. The capital budget is $155.5 million.
Next year is the final year of use for American Rescue Plan dollars. In total, $335 million came from the federal government to the city in response to the pandemic. The city’s operating budget will use $46.5 million while $2.9 million will be spent on capital projects, which expends the allocation in total. In 2025, total revenues in the operating budget are to fall to $683.6 million without the federal money.
The preliminary operating budget does not increase taxes. The city’s two largest sources of tax revenue are the property tax and the wage tax, budgeted at $152 million and $136 million, respectively. Of the city’s major taxes, only the parking tax—budgeted at $51.5 million—has yet to meet or exceed pre-pandemic 2019 collections. The city’s facility usage fee is currently in litigation but still shows revenue for 2024.
Spending $683.7 million for Pittsburgh’s estimated 2022 population of 302,898 equates to $2,257 per capita. Of the 27 department/office/bureau/board/commission budgets, when compared with 2023’s approved operating budget, 17 will spend more, 10 will spend less. Overall spending is to increase 3.1 percent above 2023’s budget.
Budgeted employees (full-time equivalents) total 3,321.75. The 2024 overall budgeted headcount is an increase of 9.15 full-time equivalents and results in a rate close to 11 employees per 1,000 people. Twelve department/office/bureau/board/commission headcounts are to rise, nine are to stay the same and six are to decrease. There were 3,139 full-time general fund, trust fund and grant employees on the June 30 pay reporting date.
There are 1,587 full-time equivalents budgeted in the bureaus of police and fire. For the first time in many years, the uniformed police headcount is not budgeted at 900 but instead 849, which the budget states “reflects the anticipated strength of the Bureau in 2024 with planned recruit classes and anticipated retirements.” The fire bureau, along with the public safety administration and emergency medical services bureaus, the public works operations and facilities bureaus and the department of mobility and infrastructure all have employees in contract negotiations with the city.
Looking back at recommendations we made for the current mayor when taking office, moving forward with a hiring freeze, the inclusion of a taxpayer bill of rights in the Home Rule Charter and not supporting anti-business measures have not happened. Implementing those measures would go a long way to bolster the city’s financial position as it enters the years following pandemic relief.
