Pittsburgh Officials Divided On How To Implement New Parks Tax

PITTSBURGH, PA - More than three months after voters narrowly approved raising their own taxes to fund city parks, no consensus exists on how the new revenue will be spent. Not only that, but city council hasn’t voted on measures to enable the tax to be collected and establish a trust fund for the money.

Council members last month mulled a bill that would have evenly divided the money among the nine council districts. That idea was shelved last week amid concerns that plan would equitably distribute the money.

Council is now considering a bill introduced by councilman Ricky Burgess that would adopt the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s plans for the parks. The conservancy, a private organization, led the referendum movement last year that was backed by Mayor Bill Peduto.

"There was a campaign to get voters to vote for the tax and this plan was the vehicle by which the campaign was justified," Burgess told WESA-FM. "Since the vote of the residents was based on this plan, we should adopt it as officially the city's plan so that the voters will receive the benefits as they were promised."

But with city Controller Michael Lamb auditing more than two dozen agreements between the city and the conservancy, several council members believe it’s best to hold off on adopting the conservancy’s plan as the city’s own.

“Certainly to go certainly to go all in with the conservancy aty this point is way too early,” councilman Anthony Coghill told Triblive.

City residents narrowly approved the ballot question in November by a vote of 33,908 to 31,446. The tax hike is costing property owners $50 for every $100,000 of assessed value and is expected to generate about $10 million annually.

The trust fund to be established will support the city's five regional parks - Schenley, Frick, Highland, Riverview and Emerald View - and 160 smaller neighborhood and community parks.

The conservancy has identified 20 parks that would receive initial capital upgrades: Baxter, McKinley, Spring Hill, Kennard, Ammon, Paulson Recreation Center, Kite Hill, East Hills, Lewis, Albert Turk, West End, Fort Pitt, Robert E. Williams, Vincennnes, Granville, Jefferson, Sheraden, Townsend, Homewood and Hazelwood Senior Center.

In a statement, the conservancy indicated it was pleased with the Burgess bill that would advance its plan.

"The parks plan, developed by the parks conservancy in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh, is a comprehensive equitable investment strategy, driven by data and community input,” it said. “Ultimately it is the plan that the people of Pittsburgh voted ‘yes’ to on Nov. 5, 2019. We look forward to working alongside city officials, as we have for the past 24 years, as we continue our mission of restoring Pittsburgh’s parks to excellence.”