Innamorato touts public safety spending in proposed 2025 budget

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato Wednesday said the $57 million she’s proposing in public safety spending in her 2025 budget would help fund the ongoing modernization of an outdated public safety radio system, ensure there are enough county police to handle emergencies, and roll out a pilot program for civilian workers to support four local police forces.

Innamorato’s latest effort to promote her controversial proposed spending plan comes about a week after the county manager warned County Council that failure to approve its accompanying property tax hike could be disastrous.

The proposed $3.1 billion county budget would require homeowners to bear a 46.5% tax hike. Council members, led by President Pat Catena, quickly pushed back against the proposal.

“Every Allegheny County resident deserves to feel safe and secure in their community, and the critical public safety and justice functions of the county absolutely need to be fully funded,” Innamorato said during an appearance Wednesday at a Blawnox fire hall.

About $12 million in the budget would fund part of a yearslong effort to transition first responders in the county from an outdated, analog radio system to a new, digital one, Innamorato said.

The move to an ultra-high frequency band, with a total estimated cost of about $80 million, started under the former county executive, Rich Fitzgerald, officials said. Nearly 400 public safety agencies in the county plan to use the new system.

The county hopes to launch an alternative response program where mental-health professionals will handle calls with — and sometimes in place of — police in McKees Rocks, Penn Hills, Monroeville and through the Allegheny County Housing Authority, officials said.

That program is expected to cost $1.8 million next year, officials said. The county Department of Human Services will fund part of the pilot project.

For Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns, who appeared Wednesday with Innamorato, the most vital part of the proposed budget funds personnel.

Kearns said he is not proposing an increase for next year to his department’s 216 officers. But, he needs adequate funding to ensure retiring and outgoing officers are replaced.

“Any reduction in funding would cause an immediate ripple effect throughout the county, putting vital investigations, the community’s safety and the public’s trust in the criminal justice system at risk,” Kearns said.

Allegheny County Police works in all 130 of the county’s municipalities, officials said. Its general investigation team has handled more than 1,000 cases this year. Its homicide detectives have investigated 57 homicide cases so far this year.

The proposed 2025 budget would earmark nearly $335 million on public safety. Nearly $44 million of that would fund the Allegheny County Police Department, up from nearly $42 million this year.

By comparison, human services, the county’s largest department, accounts for nearly 40% of the proposed 2025 operating budget — or about $287 million, up from $240 million this year.

County Manager John Fournier has warned that moves to adopt anything short of the proposed 2.2-mill property tax increase would lead to severe cuts.

In a memo obtained by TribLive, Fournier said such drastic budget-cutting could require officials to eliminate about 1,000 jobs — including laying off 40 police officers, 100 staffers from the Department of Human Services, 17 emergency dispatchers and all of the county’s park rangers.

There currently are about 6,000 county employees.