Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor Submits 2027 Preliminary Budget: $728 Million, No Tax Increase or Layoffs, Five-Year Gap Near $250 Million
Pittsburgh is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor submitted his preliminary 2027 budget and five-year plan to City Council on September 30, his first budget draft since taking office in January. The $728 million operating budget and a companion $145 million capital budget amount to nearly $13 million less in expenditures than the current year. The plan includes no tax increases or layoffs and cuts 27 vacant positions.
The technically balanced draft covers costs by withdrawing about $26.5 million from the city's rainy-day savings and reduces the city's pension contribution by roughly $7 million a year. In his submission statement, O'Connor said a 10-month, line-by-line review found the inherited budget was "missing hundreds of millions of dollars from the five-year plan," and that the fiscal crisis "is worse than we feared and will hit sooner than expected." Five-year projections show expenditures growing at twice the rate of revenues, all but depleting the rainy-day fund within five years, with a cumulative gap of about $250 million.
"If we didn't do what we're doing right now, you're looking at rec centers being closed, pools being closed. We can't raise families if we don't have those amenities, and we're not gonna stoop to that level," O'Connor told reporters, saying growth, new partnerships and outside support must help close the deficit.
City Council has since taken up the draft, and in early October several councilors introduced companion budget-transparency reform bills, which O'Connor publicly supported.
Sources: Mayor's statement published by the City of Pittsburgh (pittsburghpa.gov) on September 30, 2026; WESA reporting.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Pittsburgh 市政大楼 City-County Building，市长办公室与市议会所在地。Cbaile19 作，CC0，经维基共享资源。Image: The City-County Building in Pittsburgh, home to the Mayor's Office and City Council. Photo by Cbaile19, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
