Pittsburgh increased spending since COVID, while revenue issues brewed

(Original photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource) City spending hasn’t outstripped inflation or exceeded a sample of similar cities. As federal relief funds run out, shrinking reserves raise talk of cuts — but not from the mayor. “PublicSource is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region. Sign up for our free newsletters.” by Charlie Wolfson, PublicSource June 17, 2024 Pittsburgh’s city government has increased its spending each year since 2021, while pandemic-induced revenue problems brewed beneath the surface and formed what now amounts to a threat to the city’s financial stability. From 2019 through 2023, under two different mayors, the city increased its operational spending by about 12%. That figure is well below the inflation-tracking Consumer Price Index’s increase over that time, and tracks with the fiscal behavior of other mid-sized American cities.& During that time, two of Pittsburgh’s neighbors to the west, Detroit and Cincinnati, increased spending by 13% and 15% respectively. From 2019 through 2022, a period for which more data was available, Pittsburgh’s spending increased less than Louisville, Kentucky and St. Paul, Minnesota, which has an almost identical population to Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the pandemic dealt a direct hit to the city’s parking and amusement tax streams, and an...