Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey Proposes $657 Million Budget for 2025, Prioritizes Public Safety and Infrastructure Without Tax Increases

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey presented a $657 million budget proposal for 2025 to the City Council on Tuesday, focusing on boosting core services without resorting to service cuts or tax hikes. Despite the budget’s plans for decreased spending of almost $28 million less than the previous year, Gainey touted an approach leveraging the city’s workforce to tackle challenges head-on. “All across the city, we have found that a forward-thinking approach — one which unleashes the knowledge and creativity of our 3,500 dedicated public servants — allows us to solve problems and make change without always needing to add more money to the budget,” Gainey said, as per

WTAE

.

Public safety remains a key priority alongside infrastructure investments in paving, demolition, and traffic calming. The city intends to implement a $1.2 million automated red light enforcement program to enhance street safety. Gainey also proposed the creation of eight new anti-litter inspector roles, as efforts reflect increasing the city’s budget on road paving to over $20 million. “Our mission remains the same,” Gainey articulated, “We will always promote and protect the public good through excellent and equitable services for every resident and visitor in our city.” This was reported in a statement detailed by

TribLIVE

. However, the mayor’s vision has drawn criticism from some, like Council Member Bob Charland, who argued that the mayor focused too much on past initiatives instead of future-oriented solutions.

The 2025 budget moves away from relying on federal American Rescue Plan funds, which had helped with government operations and pandemic costs. According to Mayor Gainey’s new figures, supported by Controller Rachael Heisler, the revenue forecast has been updated and is now predicted to be over $668 million. While Heisler agrees with the estimates, she’s worried about possible drops in earned income tax revenue and the uncertain future of the facility usage fee, as discussed in the

TribLIVE

report.

Beyond fiscal maneuvering, Gainey’s administration looks to reshape the police force by hiring civilians for administrative roles and reducing uniformed officer numbers to prioritize deployment where needed. The city aims to trim the number of officers to 800 from the 850 budgeted this year. With Pittsburgh currently staffing about 750 officers, allocating officers effectively has become increasingly important, particularly as overtime funding for the police is earmarked to fall to $15 million in the 2025 budget. The fire bureau’s overtime budget, initially proposed for a decrease, saw a revision, with the updated budget boosting it to $16.5 million, closer to the current year’s $17 million. Gainey says these initiatives feed into broader plans for enhancing public safety and responsiveness.

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