Coronavirus Outbreak Devastating Pittsburgh Financially: Mayor

PITTSBURGH, PA - The coronavirus outbreak will have a crippling impact on Pittsburgh's finances for years, Mayor Bill Peduto said in an address to city residents Thursday. Peduto warned that "dark days are ahead" for the city's budget.

"The financial picture is bleak," he said. "There will be a shortfall of tens of millions of dollars this year, even taking into account our $85 million in reserves we have built up since 2014, which will then have heavy repercussions onto our next five years of budgets."

Peduto said large spending cuts likely will be needed. He also suggested a large need for major nonprofits, foundations and the corporate community to come together collectively to guarantee a "Pittsburgh for all."

"Years of city planning on resiliency going back to 2014 greatly helped us to prepare for the economic and public health shocks we're experiencing now," he said. "But nothing fully prepared us for this."