County property tax rates will remain level next year under a final budget package Allegheny County Council approved Tuesday.
Members voted 14-1 on the $942.5 million 2021 operating budget, which cuts expenses by about 2% amid declines in revenue from the coronavirus pandemic.
Bethany Hallam cast the dissenting vote after offering several failed amendments. She said after the meeting that she believed she hadn’t received enough line-item detail about the spending plan.
County Communications Director Amie Downs said that sentiment “was never communicated to anyone in the administration” and that the administration joined in “every hearing and meeting on the budget that council held.” Separately, county Executive Rich Fitzgerald praised the council for “swift and diligent work.”
“In such a [challenging] budgetary time, our work has resulted in a budget that holds the line on taxes, reduces our operating budget and still invests in our roads, bridges, parks, workforce, technology and quality of life,” Mr. Fitzgerald said in a statement.
The climate in the bond market has allowed the county to keep investing in local infrastructure — “an investment that is absolutely necessary in this economy, and as we rebound from the impact of this pandemic on our county, state and country,” he added.
Also Tuesday, council voted 11-3 to urge the Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania to extend a residential eviction moratorium at least until Oct. 1. The current federal moratorium, which affords limited protections to renters, expires next month.
“We know our COVID numbers are not decreasing. They’re actually increasing,” said council member Olivia Bennett, a sponsor of the measure. “We should continue these protections for folks who shelter in place, who home-school. In order to shelter in place or home-school, you need a home.”
Council also agreed Tuesday to require council staff members to work remotely through Jan. 19. Ms. Hallam, a sponsor of the move, noted that COVID-19 cases are expected to keep climbing into the holiday season.
Setting Jan. 19 as an end date gives people an extra two weeks to quarantine after the holidays in December, she said.
“I think it’s important that we are protecting our staff,” Ms. Hallam said.
Adam Smeltz: asmeltz@post-gazette.com, Twitter @asmeltz
First Published: November 25, 2020, 1:20 a.m.