Wilkinsburg residents will have an extra question on their ballots this General Election — one that could give the borough a more powerful mayor, enable changes to how residents are taxed and clear a path for citizen referenda.
Voters will decide whether to adopt a home rule charter for the borough, a move that would replace the statewide Borough Code as the basis for local government and allow local leaders and voters more say in how the town of 14,000 conducts its business. The vote comes five months after court rulings effectively killed a push to merge the borough into Pittsburgh.
Read the proposed home rule charter here.
“We think these changes should make sure that the things that your elected officials want to see happen can get implemented in more efficient ways,” said Jacquet Kehm, who chaired the borough’s Government Study Commission. The commission of elected residents was established in 2022 and tasked with drafting a charter for the public to vote on this year.
“We’re hoping it sparks some excitement and renewed interest in local politics and we’ve put in tools for residents to get their ideas out there,” Kehm added.
Wilkinsburg Mayor Dontae Comans said he is on the fence about whether his job, and those of council members, should come with the steep pay bumps laid out in the proposed charter. He worries that people could run for the roles “for the wrong reasons” as a result. But, he said, with added pay comes added community scrutiny on local government, which could be a good thing.
“[Voters] are our bosses because they are paying us,” Comans said. “I think there will be more eyes on the pot since the pot is getting bigger.”
What’s actually on the ballot?
What happens after the election?
Major proposed changes
Stronger mayor: The proposed home rule charter would give the borough’s mayor a much larger role than does the borough code. The mayor would be close to a full-time role, with pay set at $40,000 after a ramp-up period, be a voting member of the Borough Council and oversee the borough manager, who in turn oversees the borough departments.
The proposed charter also directs the mayor to promote economic development in the borough, represent the borough in negotiations with other government bodies and appoint citizen members to boards. The mayor would be limited to two consecutive terms and three total terms.
Under the current system, the mayor has no role on council and oversees little more than the police department, and is paid $5,000.
“We’ve repositioned that role to be more aligned with [the public’s] perception, which is more of an actual executive figure that one sees in the City of Pittsburgh and third class cities,” Kehm said.
Kehm said having a full-time mayor would bridge a gap that currently exists between the borough’s elected council members, who meet every other week and are part-time, and the day-to-day work of borough government.
“The mayor is there to make sure that what council is voting on gets enacted through the borough manager,” Kehm said. “Their role in this hybrid system … is to be a clear conduit between [council] actions and results.”
Comans said he already spends upwards of 30 hours per week on being mayor and regularly fields related phone calls from 6 a.m. to as late as midnight.
He said he feels a lot of the proposed mayoral role “is a job I already do. So it really wouldn’t be too much of a change,” aside from gaining a vote on council.
Citizen-led amendments: The only way the borough code can be amended is through legislation by the state’s General Assembly, which has to mind the needs of thousands of boroughs and is often preoccupied by the political feuds of Harrisburg.
A home rule charter allows local council members, and even the voters themselves, a leading role in shaping local government.
The proposed charter says that residents can compel Borough Council to vote on a proposed ordinance with a petition signed by just 25 voters.
If residents are still unsatisfied with the council’s decision, they can enact ordinances by ballot initiative. Any proposed ordinance accompanied by 100 voter signatures would be placed on the ballot for voter approval under the proposed charter.
“We’ve offered a vision of how we think a better government could operate, and if there are things that the commission got wrong, luckily the charter is able to kind of adapt itself and learn from its mistakes, versus being trapped to state decisions,” Kehm said.
Tax flexibility: Home rule status allows a municipality to increase its earned income tax rate, which is capped at 1% under the borough code.
Numerous municipalities in Allegheny County have availed themselves of that ability, with many settling between 1% and 2%, and the City of Pittsburgh at 3%.
Kehm pushed back against claims that home rule would necessarily come with an increased tax burden for residents, saying the current limits forced the municipality into high property tax rates, and that home rule would allow officials to spread the tax burden out.
“It gives [council] a chance to try to strike the best balance,” Kehm said. “Currently there’s only one avenue that the borough can go, and that’s why we’ve seen property taxes increase over time.”
At 14 mills, Wilkinsburg’s property tax rate is higher than all but five other Allegheny County municipalities.
Updated council: Under the proposed charter, the Borough Council would have 10 voting members — three elected from each of the borough’s wards, plus the elected mayor. The members other than the mayor would be paid $10,000 annually after a ramp-up period.
Council members would be limited to three consecutive terms and five total terms.
What’s actually on the ballot?
The ballot will include a yes or no question, with a ‘Yes’ vote favoring adoption of the home rule charter and a ‘No’ vote favoring keeping the existing borough code.
What happens after the election?
If a majority of voters say ‘No,’ nothing happens. The proposed charter is discarded and the borough continues as it is today.
If ‘Yes’ wins, a committee of council members, charter drafters and citizen members will be tasked with guiding the borough through a transition process. The new home rule charter would officially take effect Jan. 1.
Parts of the borough code could still govern the borough until the council enacts an administrative code that more fully details the borough’s departments and operations.
Current elected officials would remain in their seats until the end of their terms. In January, Comans would immediately assume the expanded mayoral powers provided by the charter.
The salaries for council members and the mayor would begin at $4,000 and $10,000, respectively, in 2025, and increase incrementally over a few years until they reach $10,000 and $40,000, respectively.
How to vote
The question will appear on the same ballot as this year’s presidential election on Nov. 5.
Register to vote by Oct. 21 to participate.
Apply for a mail-in ballot by Oct. 29 and return it to the county by 8 p.m. Nov. 5.
Find the location of your polling place and check your registration status.
Annexation saga over
The home rule charter vote is a fitting cap to a three-year run of discussions — and legal battles — over Wilkinsburg potentially becoming a part of Pittsburgh.
A local development-focused nonprofit, the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corp. [WCDC], started legal proceedings to join the municipalities in 2021, causing uproar among some Wilkinsburg circles and miffing Pittsburgh City Council in the process.
After years of legal wrangling, the state’s highest court ruled that any annexation would have to gain the assent of not only Wilkinsburg’s voters, but Pittsburgh’s voters, too. The WCDC has not pursued that, and borough leaders have shifted from beating back annexation efforts to planning for the borough’s future as a Pittsburgh neighbor, rather than a neighborhood.
With annexation ‘dead,’ Wilkinsburg looks toward possible home rule and tax changes
WCDC Director Tracey Evans said getting a referendum on the ballot and passed in Pittsburgh would be a “huge undertaking” which the organization won’t pursue.
Evans expressed misgivings about the proposed charter but said the WCDC has taken no position on how residents should vote.
“It’s like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic,” Evans said, speaking for herself and not the WCDC. She said raising income taxes to lower property taxes would be good, “except we don’t have that much income. Has anyone really done the math?”
In Wilkinsburg, ‘Once we break those curses, they turn into a strength.’
Comans pointed out that many residents opposed joining Pittsburgh because the move would have resulted in higher income taxes — which incidentally could be an after-effect of home rule.
“That’s what they didn’t want,” Comans said. “That’s something people have to really be educated about and voice what they want or don’t want.”
Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
This story was fact-checked by Anastasia Busby.
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