Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor has reopened the city’s 2026 budget to address a $25 million gap, his chief of staff told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.The mayor’s team introduced amendments to city council on Tuesday, which were aimed at addressing a $25 million gap for this year, with more budgetary needs in the following years of the city’s 5-year plan.This comes three months after a 20% property tax increase was passed by the council. The mayor’s chief of staff, Dan Gilman, expressed concerns about the budget passed in December, stating it left tens of millions of dollars in spending unbudgeted.”Honestly, it’s worse than we expected,” Gilman said. He criticized the budget for assuming minimal increases in health care costs and other expenses, which he said were unrealistic. “When you have a budget that assumes health care costs are either not increasing or increasing at two or 3% a year, when some health care are going up 20%, when you assume that gas prices, oil prices, and water bills aren’t going to go up, when you assume that trust funds can be used to buy your way through a budget, it’s not a serious budget,” Gilman said.The proposed amendments aim to fill the $25 million gap this year and address further issues over the next five years by cutting unused services, vacant positions, and collaborating with corporate partners for charitable donations. Pittsburgh City Councilmember Barb Warwick noted that the amendments involve reallocating funds rather than making cuts. “What we’re seeing is actually not so much cuts as like moving money around to different things to fill different gaps,” Warwick said.Warwick emphasized the importance of addressing budgetary gaps related to the city’s fleet, which was a major reason for the tax increase. “That was a major reason that we did increase taxes, was our very dire situation that we were in with our fleet,” she said.The 20% property tax increase was initially intended to address a $30 million budget deficit. Gilman explained that the tax revenue helped mitigate an even larger budget gap. “That money went into the even bigger budget gap that would have existed without it,” he said.Councilmember Bobby Wilson highlighted the need to increase revenue by addressing issues such as decreasing property values and vacant structures in Pittsburgh. “What are we going to do about decreasing property values downtown and all these vacant and abandoned structures and lots in the city of Pittsburgh that really could be adding to neighborhoods and our tax rolls, and how we get there is going to be critical,” Wilson said.This is a developing story. Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.

PITTSBURGH —

Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor has reopened the city’s 2026 budget to address a $25 million gap, his chief of staff told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.

The mayor’s team introduced amendments to city council on Tuesday, which were aimed at addressing a $25 million gap for this year, with more budgetary needs in the following years of the city’s 5-year plan.

This comes three months after a 20% property tax increase was passed by the council.

The mayor’s chief of staff, Dan Gilman, expressed concerns about the budget passed in December, stating it left tens of millions of dollars in spending unbudgeted.

“Honestly, it’s worse than we expected,” Gilman said. He criticized the budget for assuming minimal increases in health care costs and other expenses, which he said were unrealistic.

“When you have a budget that assumes health care costs are either not increasing or increasing at two or 3% a year, when some health care are going up 20%, when you assume that gas prices, oil prices, and water bills aren’t going to go up, when you assume that trust funds can be used to buy your way through a budget, it’s not a serious budget,” Gilman said.

The proposed amendments aim to fill the $25 million gap this year and address further issues over the next five years by cutting unused services, vacant positions, and collaborating with corporate partners for charitable donations.

Pittsburgh City Councilmember Barb Warwick noted that the amendments involve reallocating funds rather than making cuts. “What we’re seeing is actually not so much cuts as like moving money around to different things to fill different gaps,” Warwick said.

Warwick emphasized the importance of addressing budgetary gaps related to the city’s fleet, which was a major reason for the tax increase. “That was a major reason that we did increase taxes, was our very dire situation that we were in with our fleet,” she said.

The 20% property tax increase was initially intended to address a $30 million budget deficit. Gilman explained that the tax revenue helped mitigate an even larger budget gap. “That money went into the even bigger budget gap that would have existed without it,” he said.

Councilmember Bobby Wilson highlighted the need to increase revenue by addressing issues such as decreasing property values and vacant structures in Pittsburgh.

“What are we going to do about decreasing property values downtown and all these vacant and abandoned structures and lots in the city of Pittsburgh that really could be adding to neighborhoods and our tax rolls, and how we get there is going to be critical,” Wilson said.

This is a developing story.

Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.