PITTSBURGH, PA (September 30, 2021) Mayor William Peduto submitted his preliminary 2022 City Budgets to City Council today, which includes a proposed $611,750,775 Operating Budget and $158,615,392 Capital Budget with no tax increases.
Since Mayor Peduto took office in 2014, he has prioritized responsible fiscal planning to develop long-term financial stability while using north star priorities to guide community-based budgeting, investments and expenditures. Despite the budgetary challenges presented by the pandemic, the 2022 budgets reinforce Mayor Peduto’s commitment to equitable, efficient and effective city operations and record investments in infrastructure.
The investments included in the preliminary budget demonstrate Mayor Peduto’s ongoing priorities, such as:
- Continued record investments in infrastructure improvements like paving, bridges and landslides
- Rapid progress towards the city’s sustainability and 2030 Climate Action goals, including the citywide deployment of LED street lights and expanding the city’s fleet of electric vehicles
- Addressing the needs of our underserved communities through the Office of Community Health and Safety and the Office of Community Services and Violence Prevention
- Record investments in the city’s parks, including the first year of citywide parks tax revenue, as well as investments for free parks programs like Rec2Tech, which helps to prepare local youth for interest and careers in the technology sector
- Vision Zero street design – creating streets with the vision that no one is hurt in a crash – so that no matter how people get where they’re going, they have safe streets to get there
- Continued investments in Avenues of Hope, small businesses and affordable housing initiatives in partnership with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh so that our neighbors and entrepreneurs have resources to cultivate success in the city
This year, the City implemented a tool called ResourceX that allowed for an enhanced data-driven approach to budget decisions centered around equity and climate. City staff created insights within their budget requests on how those requests would help the City achieve both its climate action goals and possible cost reductions citywide. The Sustainability and Resilience Division provided additional guidance on what requests would help achieve Climate Action Plan goals.
“We’ve worked hard over the past seven years to develop and institutionalize a city that works for you and this preliminary budget builds off of the promises I made to our residents as mayor,” said Mayor Peduto. “Because of our years of financial management, we were able to withstand the pandemic without laying off city workers who provide frontline, essential services to all residents. The reality is that we all took a hit and just as our communities are recovering from the beginning of the pandemic, our budgets are too. These budgets do not have frills, but they reinforce my commitment to delivering relief and services that improve our city’s people, performance, place and planet so that our residents have a strong and sustainable city.”
The 2022 budgets include pandemic relief funding through the American Rescue Plan and were compiled following a public engagement process through the Office of Community Affairs and the Office of Management and Budget.
The preliminary 2022 Operating Budget is available here and the Capital Budget is available here.
The Peduto Administration will work with City Council members and other City leaders to make adjustments to the preliminary budget before Mayor Peduto formally submits his budget to City Council on Monday, November 8. Changes can be made to the budgets after that date at the discretion of City Council.
