Public hearing held on proposed 2025 Allegheny County budget

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — Thursday night marked the first of three public hearings on the proposed 2025 budget. The hearing was close to four hours and Allegheny County Council members heard pleas from several county departments to honor their 2025 budget requests.

>> Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato proposes major tax increase in 2025 budget

“We want to try and keep our services we don’t want to lay people off. We don’t want to stop programs that are important to us but the bottom line is we’re the ones who have to make this decision,” Nicholas Futules, Allegheny County Council member said.

Members of the Allegheny County Council have a huge decision to make when it comes to taxpayer dollars.

“My bottom line is trying to keep us moving but not necessarily try to get us too far into the future by overtaxing the people of this county,” Futules said.

Thursday, council members listened to prepared presentations by county agencies like the sheriff’s office, who each explained their need for their 2025 budget.

“As we prepared our 2025 initiatives we tried to focus on the future and how to ensure that our mission is met,” Sheriff Kevin Kraus with the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office said.

“Our proposal is serious and based on the needs of our office to fully represent the citizens of Allegheny County and protect the public safety,” First Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Spangler with the Allegheny County DA’s office said.

The County Controller, treasurer and Pittsburgh Regional Transit also presented their budgets.

Earlier this month Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato presented her proposed 2025 budget which would increase property taxes by 46%. Currently, Allegheny County property tax is 4.73 mills. Innamorato’s plan would raise it to 6.93. She says it’s a necessary increase to offset a growing county deficit. Her proposal requires support from 10 of the council’s 15 members.

“The problem I see is we need 10 votes. We don’t have 10 votes right now for that. Problem is what’s this council gonna come up with by December that will be suitable for every department and the taxpayers of this county.” Futules added,

Right now, council members are divided about how they will vote - But there is a consensus that this is one of the most difficult budget seasons they’ve ever experienced.

“Let’s face it we’re all taxpayers in this room, we all own a home just about, and if you don’t own a home, your rent’s gonna go up. So it’s a fine line between this year and the last 16 years for me. It was quite simple for most of the time we didn’t have to raise taxes but here we are with the largest increase in the history of this county,” Futules said.

The next public hearings are scheduled for Oct. 28 and Oct. 30. Residents can submit written comments to council members through Nov. 8.

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