Wilkinsburg Borough Council voted Wednesday evening to double the earned income tax rate for residents and impose a 1% tax on nonresidents who work in the borough.
Passed in a 7-2 vote, the ordinance will increase the EIT for residents from 1% to 2%, while some nonresidents working in the borough will begin paying a 1% tax. The effect on nonresidents’ paychecks will depend on the level of the earned income tax in their home municipality.
Roughly 20 residents were in attendance as the council debated the proposal. Some questioned whether the borough had exhausted other means of increasing revenue before turning to the income tax.
“I think we’re shooting ourselves in the foot because you’re going to be discouraging future residents possibly from moving here,” said resident Lisa Moss. “As much as you’d like to say this has nothing to do with real estate tax, this is part of the package that people look at.”
The property taxes paid by Wilkinsburg owners to the borough and the Wilkinsburg School District are among Allegheny County’s highest. Facing a $2.9 million deficit in 2027, council members warn that residents would see cuts to vital services if no action is taken on revenues.
Officials first discussed raising the earned income tax as early as 2023, as the borough faced a failed annexation attempt and revenue shortfalls across the board. The vote comes as municipalities across the state have looked to tax increases to bridge gaps in revenue.
“We’re so far behind with the [1% tax] and relying on grants for so long that if we could have, we would have done increments,” said Mayor Dontae Comans. “But right now, where we’re at, we can’t afford to raise it by a quarter or even 50%.”
In an interview with Public Source prior to the meeting, Councilor Renée Haynes-Johnson said that the increase will carry the borough for another “three or four years” before eventually reassessing its utility.
“It’s our only alternative, and it will give us a carryover that we can put into reserves for the following year, so that we don’t have to go back to people again and ask them for another increase,” Haynes-Johnon said.
Residents questioned the mayor and council’s support for a tax increase while simultaneously seeing a 43% and 33% increase in their salaries, respectively.
“I know a lot of people brought up the salaries being raised, but the people voted for that when they voted for the home rule charter,” Comans said, referring to a 2024 referendum which freed the borough from constraints on taxes and salaries laid out in state law.
Comans said his role is larger than that of most borough mayors. “For me, it’s more that I’m just over the police. I’m over the borough manager. And so my salary will eventually get to $40,000 with that same position. If I was anywhere else, that would be a $100,000 salary.”
Voting in favor of the ordinance were councilors Haynes-Johnson, Moses Workman, Linda Atkins, Kellen Lovejoy, Alexandria Johnson, Chavaysha Chaney and President NaTisha Washington. Voting against it were councilors Sabrina Gibson and Nicole Santella.
Council members on both sides said that they would have liked to hear more from residents prior to the vote. Borough officials hosted two public information sessions in the month leading up to the vote.
Santella suggested that the council table the vote and host another public information before making a final decision. However, Haynes-Johnson declined, noting that the timeline would not allow it.
“The public hearing was scheduled in such a way that it had to occur no less than 10 days from the date the ordinance would be adopted,” Haynes-Johnson said.
Haynes-Johnson told Public Source that the borough may reconsider reducing the EIT within the next four years, however, she was unable to say when.
“We don’t want this to be a forever thing, we just want to be able to stabilize services so that we can try and get that income,” Washington said. “We will still be looking at the budget and seeing where we can minimize some things … where we can find support outside of the borough.”
Other councilors questioned the decision to raise taxes before the borough had finalized its budget.
“First of all, I said to start from within. We have to cut the fat somewhere,” Gibson said, calling upon the borough to reassess the budget and collect delinquent taxes from local businesses.
The ordinance will come into effect Jan. 1.
Octavia Liku is an editorial intern at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at octavia@publicsource.org.
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