Pittsburgh City Council has scrambled its end-of-year calendar as it weighs last-minute spending cuts and a tax increase. 

A key opportunity for the public to give its opinions has been slated for Dec. 20 — a Saturday — and the final vote on the budget is scheduled for the next day, Dec. 21. 

Council is even preparing to work into the final minutes of 2025 to make sure it gets a budget passed; in case the mayor issues a last-minute veto of any budget legislation, the nine-member body could meet late on New Year’s Eve to vote on an override. 

The late-December frenzy in City Hall was set off when lawmakers began pointing to figures in Mayor Ed Gainey’s budget proposal, claiming his spending estimates are unrealistic and the city’s financial outlook for 2026 is far worse than the mayor’s plan envisions.

Council has taken the reins on a process usually dominated by the mayor’s office; in recent years the mayor’s budget has been adopted with minor changes, and there has not been a tax increase in 11 years.

Councilor Barb Warwick introduced a bill to raise the property tax rate by 30% earlier this week, though it’s unclear how much support it has garnered among the other members. The percentage increase could be changed after haggling in the coming days. Any change in the city’s rate would likely accompany a proposed Pittsburgh Public Schools property tax boost.

The next step in the process is a line-item vote Dec. 18, during which the members will detail publicly what they intend to change from the mayor’s proposed budget. 

Council will hold a public hearing at 11 a.m. on Dec. 20 in the City-County Building’s fifth floor. Residents can register up until 8 a.m. that day to speak in front of council.

After council’s Sunday votes, budget legislation would go to the mayor’s desk, opening a key 10-day window. The mayor can sign the legislation during that period, finalizing the process. He can veto it, which would force council to meet again and come up with a six-vote supermajority to override the veto. Or he can do nothing: Legislation automatically becomes law if it remains unsigned after 10 days. 

Gainey has been quiet on what he would do with budget and tax bills that differ from what he proposed; he said during a recent Public Source interview that once council sends something to his desk, he would “take a look.”

Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.

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What are the key dates in Pittsburgh’s budget fight — and when can residents weigh in?

by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source
December 10, 2025

<h1>What are the key dates in Pittsburgh’s budget fight — and when can residents weigh in?</h1> <p class="byline">by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />December 10, 2025</p> <p>Pittsburgh City Council has scrambled its end-of-year calendar as it weighs last-minute spending cuts and a tax increase.&nbsp;</p> <p>A key opportunity for the public to give its opinions has been slated for Dec. 20 — a Saturday — and the final vote on the budget is scheduled for the next day, Dec. 21.&nbsp;</p> <p>Council is even preparing to work into the final minutes of 2025 to make sure it gets a budget passed; in case the mayor issues a last-minute veto of any budget legislation, the nine-member body could meet late on New Year’s Eve to vote on an override.&nbsp;</p> </p> <p>The late-December frenzy in City Hall was set off when lawmakers began pointing to figures in Mayor Ed Gainey’s budget proposal, claiming his spending estimates are unrealistic and the city’s financial outlook for 2026 is far worse than the mayor’s plan envisions.</p> <p>Council has taken the reins on a process usually dominated by the mayor’s office; in recent years the mayor’s budget has been adopted with minor changes, and there has not been a tax increase in 11 years.</p> <p>Councilor Barb Warwick introduced <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-city-council-property-tax-hike-2026/">a bill to raise the property tax rate by 30%</a> earlier this week, though it’s unclear how much support it has garnered among the other members. The percentage increase could be changed after haggling in the coming days. Any change in the city’s rate would likely accompany a proposed <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/pps-pittsburgh-schools-tax-hike-budget-cyber-charter/">Pittsburgh Public Schools property tax boost</a>.</p> <p>The next step in the process is a line-item vote Dec. 18, during which the members will detail publicly what they intend to change from the mayor’s proposed budget.&nbsp;</p> <p>Council will hold a public hearing at 11 a.m. on Dec. 20 in the City-County Building’s fifth floor. <a href="https://www.pittsburghpa.gov/City-Government/City-Council/Clerks-Office/Council-Meeting-Schedule">Residents can register up until 8 a.m. that day to speak in front of council</a>.</p> <p>After council’s Sunday votes, budget legislation would go to the mayor’s desk, opening a key 10-day window. The mayor can sign the legislation during that period, finalizing the process. He can veto it, which would force council to meet again and come up with a six-vote supermajority to override the veto. Or he can do nothing: Legislation automatically becomes law if it remains unsigned after 10 days.&nbsp;</p> <p>Gainey has been quiet on what he would do with budget and tax bills that differ from what he proposed; he said during a recent Public Source interview that once council sends something to his desk, he would “take a look.”</p> <p><em>Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-city-council-2026-budget-negotiation-schedule/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1327004&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-city-council-2026-budget-negotiation-schedule/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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