‘Good position’ or looming crisis? City Hall divide emerges over Pittsburgh finances

Pittsburgh Controller Rachael Heisler discusses the city’s budget during a press conference in her Downtown office on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Photo by Pamela Smith/PublicSource). The mayor and controller are at odds over city budgeting as federal funds run dry. Will the future feature layoffs, service cuts and potholes? by Charlie Wolfson, PublicSource A growing chorus of current and former Pittsburgh officials see a financial crisis in the city’s future and say big changes are needed to prevent layoffs and service cuts. The mayor’s office, meanwhile, maintains the city is in a strong position and does not plan any cutbacks. While& real estate tax revenue crumbles& and federal COVID-19 relief funds dwindle, even the optimists in City Hall forecast lean years ahead. But a difference of opinion has emerged on just how bad it will get — ranging from a tight-but-stable budget predicted by the mayor’s office to deficits and depleted reserve funds predicted by the controller and some council members. “We have been buoyed by the [relief funds] for the last four years,” said City Controller Rachael Heisler during a Wednesday press conference to release her office’s report on the city’s finances in 2023. “The reason we won’t have...