On Monday, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl gave his annual Budget Address. In it, he outlined a “5-year plan” to get the city back on track financially. After citing Pittsburgh’s struggling economy of the past few years, Ravenstahl pointed out that on many fronts, the city is improving, and the budget has been balanced. The major issue facing the city currently is paying off the pension fund. Pension payments are increasing, and the city’s budget is suffering. The mayor describes his efforts to find “revenue streams” to support this growing demand, and also his desire for an immediate “large cash infusion” into the pension fund. He says that these solutions are the only way to avert the impending crisis. He also wants to reverse the “state takeover” that has been in place for the last few years under state Act 47. Pittsburgh was considered “financially distressed” and qualified for help from state authorities to balance the city’s budget and prevent financial crisis. Since the state authorities have stepped in to assist the city, Pittsburgh’s fiscal situation has improved, as Ravenstahl points out, and therefore is ready to be released from this oversight. He says that his plan is one “that recognizes the reality of state takeover and makes sure that Pittsburghers can get through the next five years unharmed even when confronted by pension payments that double and triple.”
Source Article: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11320/1190114-192.stm
Read the Budget Address: http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/mayor/2011_budget_address.htm
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