Topic
City Council
The city's emergency medical services bureau has 15 paramedic vacancies. On Nov. 20, its chief said she hopes the city will someday open an in-house paramedic academy. However, the 2026 preliminary budget can't cover such a program. A deputy chief said the bureau has also spent $7.2 million on overtime this year, twice what was budgeted.
City Council
Since Nov. 17, residents can request a crisis team through 911. Under a new model, social workers from the Office of Community Health and Safety ride in pairs without police. Their response time averages 10 minutes, about the same as EMS, an assistant public safety director said. For now, though, the teams work only during weekday business hours.
City Council
The city doesn't fund the fire bureau's effort to give residents free smoke detectors. On Nov. 20, the fire chief said there's a backlog of 1,000 requests. Even so, his $20,000 request for detectors was denied in the preliminary budget. Like other public safety departments, the bureau also has too much overtime pay.
City Council
Council's budget director said the city can't afford its $13 million Pittsburgh Water bill. Until last year, swapped services offset the cost, the authority's chief executive said. This year, the city is being charged the full retail rate for the first time. Next year's preliminary budget sets aside $8.5 million, short of the projected $10 million cost.
City Council
Roofs and heating and cooling systems at some recreation facilities, fire stations, and EMS headquarters are in critical or failing condition. On Nov. 19, public works officials told council the repairs need a little over $4.5 million. However, the proposed capital budget includes no money for them. For now, an assistant director said, the department has to wait until something fails.
City Council
Social service and community groups across the city are set to receive more than $4 million in block grant money. Council takes a final vote next week. However, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank's share won't arrive before federal food assistance funding expires Nov. 1. So far, neither the legislation nor council members have said when the money will be released.
City Council
Some of the city's electric bills went unpaid, a Public Works audit found. Now, council has agreed to pay off the debt, which the department negotiated down to $204,750. A department official said the city hasn't had a utilities manager since 2012. He said procurement card payments could make the city eligible for an $11 to $15 million rebate.
City Council
Brookline Memorial Park's busy playground has broken equipment, some of it roped off, a council member said. Now, he wants to spend $415,000 in interest savings on playground upgrades and a garbage truck. Still, a 2023 controller's analysis ranked the park near the bottom of the priority list. Another council member said her district needs playground upgrades too.
City Council
To replace its older, high-mileage vehicles, the city would need about $22 million a year, according to its fleet manager. An Oct. 15 report, the first of its kind, found police, EMS, and trash vehicles are the most overused. The fleet manager recommended speeding up their replacement. Council's budget director suggested a dedicated fleet fund, but council didn't plan any immediate action.
City Council
An overlooked liquid fuels trust fund has money that could go toward new snowplows. A council member proposed moving $750,000 from that fund to the Equipment Leasing Authority. She said that should cover four new plows. Council moved the bill forward on a seven to two vote.
City Council
Thirty-nine community groups are in line for about $1.7 million from the Stop the Violence Fund. Council gave preliminary approval, though two members said seven groups didn't meet all funding criteria. A city supervisor said community need came first where a neighborhood has only one provider. Before next Tuesday's final vote, council will get a written rationale for the exceptions.
City Council
Neighbors have wanted a new fire station in Lincoln Place for decades, a council member said. Now, Public Works has asked council for $4.5 million more to move Fire Station 20 there from a floodplain in Hays. That would bring the total cost to $17.7 million. Still, the station will have a small community room instead of the community center neighbors wanted.
City Council
Properly maintaining the city's vehicles would take $10 to $15 million a year. The five-year budget outlook, however, allows for only $3 million a year. This week, council approved more oversight, including a yearly fleet report before each budget. It'll list repair costs per vehicle and flag any vehicle whose upkeep reached 30% of its purchase price.
City Council
Free meals, community gardens, and food-system job training are among the uses of the city's Food Justice Fund. Council has now affirmed grants for the fund's last $1.5 million. In all, 101 applications asked for more than $4 million. District 9 got the largest share of any council district.
City Council
Each year, the city sweeps idle money out of dormant projects, and some of it can be lost for good. A $234,149 balance from an expired federal bike share grant, for example, no longer exists. Council members said they got no timely warning and no say in where leftover money goes. Now, the package is on hold for a week so council can weigh in.
City Council
Council's committee meeting this week ran 8 hours, and almost 70 people gave public comment. The largest group, 59 speakers, favored strengthening the Stop the Violence Fund. Speakers also weighed in on protections for trans healthcare and sex workers, and 11 opposed a public safety training campus. Top agenda items included reducing the minimum penalty for sex work.
City Council
The Stop the Violence Fund, which pays for violence prevention, hit its $10 million ceiling this year. A bill would set new rules for how that money gets spent. Instead of receiving grants, community groups would compete openly for contracts. Council gave the bill a unanimous recommendation, and the final vote is set for July 8.
City Council
Most City EMS vehicles and a third of fire vehicles are past service life or mileage limits. On May 6, council members agreed both council and the administration need to find funds. Proper upkeep would take $10 to 15 million a year, the public safety director said. Yet the five-year outlook allows only $3 million a year, a council member noted.
City Council
Council discussed a $40,000 contract for immigration matters in an executive session closed to the public. It then authorized the deal with a global immigration law firm. The contract wasn't presented at a committee meeting before approval. Informup asked a council member's office and the firm for details, but neither had responded by publication.
City Council
City departments can hire certain outside professionals for jobs estimated at $100,000 or less without a council vote on each one. Now, new legislation adds 27 vendors to that program, but it doesn't name them. Informup asked council for the list but hadn't heard back by publication. One council member worried the system could lead departments to overlook minority contractors.