‘We are here to listen, learn and act’ — First town hall on county budget hosted by DSA and county councilmembers

On Monday, residents were invited to discuss Allegheny County’s 2023 $1.02 billion operating budget during a virtual town hall. Hosted by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Economic Justice Circle Pittsburgh in collaboration with County Councilmember Anita Prizio, the floor was open, for the first time, to citizens to give input on how the county budget should be used.

County councilmembers Bethany Hallam, Liv Bennett and Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis also attended the 7 p.m. meeting. 

In October, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald unveiled the proposed operating budget, which includes a 2.9% increase from the 2022 budget. This is due to increased personnel costs expected in 2023 and the creation of the Department of Sustainability, which will cost $814,000. 

On Oct. 18 and 20, two public hearings were held for registered speakers. The County Council heard presentations by the Allegheny County controller, the Court of Common Pleas, Pittsburgh Regional Transit, county administration, the treasurer, the district attorney, the sheriff and Community College of Allegheny County.

However, Monday marked the first open discussion among councilmembers and residents regarding the upcoming budget, which will need to be approved by Dec. 6.

“I’m hoping this town hall will be held each year to promote transparency and accountability,” Prizio said. “Budgets are essentially moral documents, and let this be the first town hall introducing participatory budgeting. We are here to listen, learn and act.”

Prizio also spoke on the $84.4 capital budget for 2023. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, new debt was avoided and the county did not have to raise taxes, the councilmember said. 

Talking points from residents included county work on sustainability, the Allegheny County Jail, public health and education, and county infrastructure. 

Hallam told attendees that the highest line item in the county budget is punishment and that 35 cents of every dollar paid in tax dollars in Allegheny County goes to the jail. Regarding the legal system, Hallam explained a budget amendment she and some of her colleagues plan to introduce to council.

The amendment would increase the salaries of attorneys from both the county public defender’s office and the district attorney’s office. Hallam called the starting salary of $45,000 “super low,” especially compared to neighboring Washington, Fayette and Armstrong counties, where starting salaries are $65,000 to $75,000. 

“In order to be competitive, to ensure that we can actually maintain the best and the brightest of legal minds in the county … we are proposing a budget amendment to actually increase the starting salary for those positions from $45,000 to $65,000,” she said.

A second major amendment discussed at the town hall allocates more funding to Community College of Allegheny County. According to Hallam, the Allegheny County operating budget directly violates state law. The Community College Act of Pennsylvania requires the county, the state and the students to each provide one-third share of CCAC’s operating budget. The college’s 2022-23 operating budget is $110 million, but the county’s proposed budget comes up $8.3 million shy of its one-third contribution.

Hallam said that larger fees and higher tuition rates then fall onto students to make up operation costs.

“We are spending more money locking people in cages than we are paying our workers a fair share, than we are providing funding for education for our students, than anything else in our entire budget,” Hallam explained. “That pisses me off and it should piss all of you off, too.”

To pass, the budget amendment would have to get four out of the seven votes in the council’s budget and finance committee before moving to full council, where it will need at least eight votes to pass.

Although similar budget amendments have failed to pass in the past, Hallam said they have a “really strong coalition of folks” on the budget and finance committee this year.

“We’re being very strategic about what we’re introducing and how it’s being done so that hopefully, we can get them passed and get agencies money that need the money to do what they should be doing to serve the population of the county,” Bennett said. 

The councilmembers encouraged residents to attend and participate in the budget and finance meeting on Nov. 30 and the county council meeting on Dec. 6.

“We just want to hear from you, and I promise you the most powerful tool we have is our community,” Hallam said. “The most powerful tool we have is the voices of the people around us, and we need you guys to keep using those voices like you have been.”