City council approves budget oversight changes

Pittsburgh spent $11.5 million on cooperative purchasing agreements in the first half of this year. None of that spending required a vote from City Council. The city approved new oversight rules on Tuesday to address that gap.

Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, a Democrat from Squirrel Hill, sponsored the main package of bills. She chairs the council finance committee. The legislation requires training for new council members and staffers on budget operations. It also creates an online dashboard to track city credit card spending. The bills mandate quarterly public meetings to discuss city finances. Strassburger began hosting these meetings earlier this year.

City officials will also make changes without formal legislation. The city controller, an independently elected fiscal watchdog, will now access the city’s budgeting software. Prior administrations did not provide that access.

These reforms follow sharp criticism of former Mayor Ed Gainey. Officials say his spending plans drastically underestimated city expenses. He left office with millions of dollars in unpaid bills. Elected officials and the public were unaware of the full extent of the financial problems. Council members hope the new measures allow them to monitor finances more closely.

Strassburger said the reforms will not solve all problems. She noted they are important for improving resident trust. “They’ll help us see problems on the horizon sooner,” she said.

Council also approved a separate bill aimed at piggyback contracts. These agreements allow the city to use pricing from deals other public entities have already negotiated. The administration did not need council approval for these deals. Last year, the Gainey administration used a piggyback contract to extend a ShotSpotter agreement through 2029. The city spent more than $1.3 million on that contract in the first half of this year.

Councilwoman Barb Warwick, a Democrat from Greenfield, introduced the bill. It originally required council approval for piggyback contracts over $30,000. Councilman Bobby Wilson, a Democrat from the North Side, proposed an amendment. His version would raise the vote threshold to $1 million. He wanted reports for deals over $30,000 but no vote for smaller amounts. Warwick tweaked the bill on Tuesday. It now requires weekly reports for deals worth at least $5,000. Council approved the measure unanimously despite Wilson’s objections.

Strassburger said the lower reporting threshold allows for greater transparency. She added she would revisit the policy if staff found it overly onerous. Wilson criticized the change. He argued that reporting on $5,000 contracts puts more pressure on the Office of Management and Budget. He said the office is already struggling to address the budget crisis.