Joanne Kilgour, Jeaneen Zappa and Lindsay Fraser: To keep Allegheny home for all, county council must pass Innamorato’s budget

Allegheny County residents are living through an ongoing housing crisis. Western Pennsylvania has some of the oldest housing stock in the nation and decades of disinvestment, and the climate crisis is driving increased costs for homeowners and renters through increased utility bills. Many of our homes lack insulation, are badly in need of repairs or cost more than we can afford.

Most people in Allegheny County have a shared vision of safe, affordable housing, clean air and water, and good, union jobs for all. Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato’s Whole-Home Repairs program was a good first step in this direction and gave us a proven framework for making Western Pennsylvania a place where we can live in safe, up-to-date homes, and where we can build thriving local economies using sustainable, environmentally conscious labor.

In October, Innamorato released her proposed 2025 comprehensive fiscal plan to take the next step in making Allegheny County a community for all of us. This budget includes the first county tax increase since 2011 — the owner of an average home in the county will pay $15 per month more — and is the fiscally responsible decision that will put our county back on track for a sustainable financial future.

And yet, in recent weeks, some members of Allegheny County Council — including President Pat Catena — have started proposing “austerity” budgets instead. These austerity measures could lead to thousands of job cuts and slash child care, elder care and public safety services across the county, and would still include at least a 1 millage tax increase.

With this county budget, we have an opportunity to maintain the resources needed to continue the programs and services that keep us safe in our homes, clean our air and water, and create good jobs. By directly investing in people and our neighborhoods — especially in places that have been left behind, which are largely poor and working class, and Black and brown — the county has a real opportunity to maintain key county services, keep county workers on the job and lay the groundwork for the healthy futures Allegheny County residents deserve.

Allegheny County Council has a simple choice next week: Either pass an austerity budget with cuts to jobs and services that still includes a tax increase costing homeowners on average $11 per month, or pass the county executive’s budget that preserves all county jobs and services with a tax increase costing homeowners on average $15 per month. Either way, there will be a tax increase for the first time since 2011. The only question is whether Allegheny County Council will preserve or cut services we rely on.

Innamorato’s budget proposal for 2025 represents the beginning of a new administration, addressing structural issues others have avoided and setting a new course for the county. We’ve got a challenging road ahead of us, but putting people first and passing her budget — not turning to austerity measures — is the right path for our communities.

Joanne Kilgour is executive director of the Ohio River Valley Institute. Jeaneen Zappa is executive director of the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance. Lindsay Fraser is director of Healthy Homes, Women for a Healthy Environment.