Budget crawls ahead - PittsburghLIVE.com If council passes Murphy's budget this year without the oversight board's consent, it could cause the board to withhold new tax revenues from the city to force it to comply.None of the options are worthy of a great city. None of the options are worthy of a place that I want to be well suited for my children and my childrens' kids.
We need someone to do the heavy lifting so that options, real options, are put onto the table. I want one avenue available, as an escape route if necessary, that will insure that we can soar again.
I want a performance option. I am tierd of only seeing these 'crawl along' solutions and options. They stink. And, they are crafted by those who don't have the capacity to make anything else. Nor do they have the motivation to do anything else.
For them, the status quo is just fine. The status quo doesn't work for me. It doesn't fit. It doesn't wear well.
The status quo, and the crawl along options, explains why people in Pittsburgh have been voting with their feet -- and leaving -- in the past years.
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City budget crawls ahead
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 15, 2005
After arguments erupted Wednesday over a routine budget transfer to cover overtime costs for firefighters, Pittsburgh City Council barely found enough votes to grant preliminary approval to Mayor Tom Murphy's 2006 budget.
Council members criticized Act 47 recovery team co-leader Jim Roberts when he couldn't answer questions about a measure council approved to redirect $4.2 million in 2005 funds to cover expenses.
Roberts said he hadn't been asked to examine the transfers, which include moving $2.5 million from the police salary budget to the firefighters' overtime budget. The Fire Bureau's overtime budget ran dry in mid-October after overtime costs topped $1 million a month because of understaffing.
The state-run recovery team created a five-year financial recovery plan for the city in 2004.
During a tumultuous five-hour meeting, council voted 3-0 with four abstentions to approve next year's budget. The budget limped to the next step without a majority because one isn't required until a final vote, which is scheduled for Monday.
Councilmen William Peduto, Gene Ricciardi and Sala Udin voted in favor of the budget. Council President Luke Ravenstahl and Councilmen Len Bodack, Dan Deasy and Doug Shields abstained. Council members Twanda Carlisle and Jim Motznik weren't present for the vote.
The budget has yet to receive approval from Pittsburgh's state oversight board, which oversees the city's financial recovery plan.
The board, known formally as the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, wants the city to pass some of its rising health insurance costs on to workers. Murphy and City Council have refused, saying nonunion workers shouldn't be forced to pay up to $400 more a year in health insurance when they haven't had a pay raise in more than three years.
The issue has halted progress on Murphy's proposed $418 million budget. If council passes Murphy's budget this year without the oversight board's consent, it could cause the board to withhold new tax revenues from the city to force it to comply.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 765-2312.
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