A report released by City Controller Rachael Heisler on Wednesday reviews the Parks Trust Fund’s first five years of operation. The program is funded through a real estate tax levy called the Parks Tax, which allocates money towards improvements to Pittsburgh parks. A 2019 referendum created the fund.
Heisler noted several positives about the program’s past five years, including park enhancements, programming support, and improvements to the Department of Public Works’ vehicle fleet.
The report also highlighted overestimated revenue and increasing operations costs, without clear long-term goals for the funding and insufficient guidelines for measuring expenses. It noted that the fund made $36 million less than projected from 2021-25, and that the number of full-time positions funded by the Parks Tax has grown from 27 to 58 since 2022.
Heisler recommends that City Council and the mayor create a parks commission made up of a “broad range of parks stakeholders” to guide the long-term strategy of the fund. The commission would publish regular reports on the fund’s progress, hold public meetings, hire limited financial planning staff, and define criteria for proposed expenditures.
“The creation of the Parks Tax was a unique opportunity to help revitalize our communal areas and distribute resources more equitably in neighborhoods across the City,” Heisler said in a news release. “But there is a lot more that we can and must do to fully capitalize on this opportunity and make the most of this funding.”