►
From YouTube: Pittsburgh City Council Budget Hearing - 12/2/20
Description
Department of Finance / Department of Law
A
Good
afternoon
and
welcome
back
to
the
continuation
of
city
council's
budget
hearings.
This
afternoon
we
will
be
hearing
from
the
department
of
finance,
as
well
as
the
department
of
law
with
the
ethics
board,
but
we're
going
to
begin
with
the
department
of
finance
and,
as
always,
we'll
turn
it
over
to
our
budget
director
bill
urbanic.
For
a
brief
overview.
B
Thank
you,
financial
chair
level.
The
mission
of
the
department
of
finance,
the
department
of
finance
is
committed
to
excellence
in
financial
management
for
the
city,
its
residents
and
its
businesses.
Finance
department
is
responsible
for
the
collection,
deposit
and
investment
of
all
funds
received
by
the
city
from
any
source,
the
department
bills
and
collects
tax
revenues
and
fee
revenue,
intergovernment
payment
payments,
grant
payments,
lease
payments
and
other
payments
to
the
city.
B
The
department
also
manages
tax
abatements,
including
homestead
and
senior
citizen
exemptions,
tracks
tax
increments
and
performs
tax
audits
designed
to
help
business,
submit
returns
and
timely
and
enforce
tax
laws.
Department
is
also
the
designated
tax
collector
for
the
school
district
and
for
carnegie
library.
In
addition
to
the
collection
revenues,
department
performs
and
other
other
functions.
B
B
That's
a
decrease
of
what
was
anticipated
in
last
year's
five
year
plan
of
seven
million
dollars
or
about
three
point:
eight
percent
total
departmental
budget
not
including
pensions
and
the
housing
fund
transfer,
are
five
million.
Six
hundred
and
forty
four
thousand
dollars
increase
from
what
was
anticipated
in
last
year's
five
year
plan
166
000
total
full-time
positions;
38,
that's
a
reduction
of
two
reductions
in
the
first
six
months
of
the
year
is
elimination
of
one
financial
analyst
and
one
administrative
assistant.
B
B
Non-Salary
budget
items
have
been
reduced
by
six
million.
Six
hundred
and
thirty
four
thousand
dollars
or
three
point,
seven
percent
from
what
was
in
the
five-year
plan
prior
five-year
plan.
Examples
of
those
cuts
include
the
municipal
opec,
which
is
other
post-employee
benefits,
contribution
of
2.5
million
dollars,
those
that
particular
one
was
put
in
by
through
our
act,
47
plan
as
being
required
through
act
47.
B
B
The
debt
is
decreased
by
three
million
one
hundred
twenty
nine
thousand
five
point:
two
percent,
due
to
the
refinancing
in
may,
pension
payments
decreased
by
one
million
five
hundred
ninety
five
thousand
dollars
and
that's
sort
of
an
overage
most
likely
based
on
the
elimination
of
positions
throughout
the
budget,
operating
transfer
to
the
three
taxing
bodies,
trust
fund,
which
increased
by
250
thousand
dollars
postage
by
seventy
five
thousand
dollars.
Professional
services
related
to
rating
agencies
decreased
by
fifty
thousand
dollars.
B
Luckily,
for
us,
real
estate
tax
was
not
was
collected
prior,
the
majority
of
it
collected
prior
to
the
closing
that
we
had,
but
other
of
our
larger
tax
revenues
such
as
earned
income
tax
payroll
prep
tax
were
significantly
reduced,
as
well
as
the
product
projections
for
next
year.
In
this
2021
budget,
last
year's
revenue
collections
were
608
million
of
the
projected
collection,
the
budget
projection.
B
The
2021
budget
is
showing
only
569
million.
That's
a
reduction
of
38
million
dollars
in
revenue
and,
as
we
stated
before,
the
problems
we
have
right
now
with
this
particular
budget
is
a
revenue
problem.
So
we
can
only
cut
our
way
out
so
much
and
that's
what's
reflected
in
in
the
budget
that
we
have
now
also
under
the
department
of
finance
or
their
trust
funds.
The
three
taxing
bodies
trust
fund
had
a
beginning
balance
of
903.
B
That's
a
reduction
of
158
000
from
the
2020
beginning
year
anticipated
revenues
500
000,
including
a
250
000
transfer
from
the
general
fund,
as
previously
mentioned,
11
employees
at
15
percent
of
the
finance
direct
and
the
15
of
the
finance
directors
budgeted
in
this
trust
fund.
There's
a
reduction
of
one
employee.
That's
a
clerical
position,
one
non-salary
change!
There's
a
hundred.
Fifty
thousand
dollar
decrease
to
legal
fees
which
is
related
to
clearing
title.
B
The
sheet
fund.
Current
balance
is
287
000.
The
fire
escrow
balance
is
922
000
and
the
employee
healthcare
program,
trust
fund,
current
balance,
460
thousand
there's
very
agency
funds,
tax
refunds,
250
000
tax
refunds
regarding
the
school
district,
there's
a
negative
33
000
in
that
real
estate
tax
trust
funds.
The
city
has
a
negative
two
hundred
thousand
dollar
balance
in
the
real
estate
tax
refund
school
district,
233
000,
positive
balance.
There
is
no
money
in
the
carnegie
library
line
item
labeled
as
tax
refunds.
B
The
department
of
finance
also
helps
help
to
oversee
the
other.
Post-Employee
benefits,
trust
funds
and
the
comprehensive
municipal
trust
fund,
which
oversees
the
investment
of
the
municipal,
police
and
fire
pension
funds,
and
those
are
my
numbers
and
my
descriptions
from
the
department
and
I
will
hand
it
back
to
our
finance
chair,
councilman
dan
lavelle.
C
C
D
F
Okay,
this
is
basically
just
an
overview
of
how
our
department
is
broken
down
into
the
different
sections.
We
have
our
administrative
and
treasury
section,
the
real
estate
division,
the
cash
management
division
which
actually
oversees
the
banking
and
investment
of
all
the
all
of
the
money,
business
intelligence
which
nareda
actually
heads
up,
as
does
all
of
our
operations
and
our
tech,
our
tax
compliance
section,
which
is
business
taxes
and
back
to
treasury
and
administration.
It
all
kind
of
flows
together.
F
E
E
E
F
On
to
the
real
estate
division-
and
we
are
actually
on
track
to
replace
remit
32,
which
is
an
imaging
system,
we're
actually,
we
actually
purchased
a
new
opex
scanner,
which
is
the
same
scanner
that
we
use
for
business
tax
currently
and
the
rtl
system,
which
operates
on
the
back
end
to
process
all
the
data
and
send
electronic
deposits
to
the
bank.
So
this
should
happen
in
early
january
2021,
and
hopefully
it
will
make
our
processes
more
efficient.
F
Well,
actually,
I
know
it
will
so
it'll
actually
cut
down
on
staff,
time
and
processing
as
well,
which
some
of
it,
even
though
we
use
remit
32
is
more
manual.
Our
new
abatement
processes
are
currently
being
built
and
developed
into
our
new
tax
system,
which
should
go,
live
and
be
implemented
next
year
and
we're
currently
in
development.
F
The
automation
of
the
new
tax
system,
which
I
just
mentioned,
which
is
impact,
and
to
connect
that
with
e
properties
plus
which
we
use
for
that's
actually
our
real
estate
database,
which
has
all
of
our
properties
that
the
city
holds
in
our
inventory,
also,
is
the
ones
that
are
available
for
sale.
And
this
should
actually
help
to.
F
We
are
actively
actively
developing
the
rtl
imaging
system,
capabilities
to
process,
all
business
and
real
estate,
mail
and
payments
electronically,
or
maintaining
weekly
deposit
activity
during
pandemic,
avoiding
issues
with
delays
and
payments
and
payroll
posting
or
the
debt
payments.
And
actually
this
was
a
huge
undertaking
and
actually
we're
about
to
have
an
issue
again,
because
some
of
the
banks
that
we
actually
do
face-to-face
banking
with
are
closing
their
lobbies.
F
So
it's
been
a
challenge
for
us
to
keep
that
going,
but
we
have
been
able
to
which
is
a
big
feather
and
a
cap
to
our
employees
and
we've
also
expanded
our
credit
card
programs
by
86
percent
over
the
past
three
years
and
for
those
that
have
had
the
tech
capability
to
do
to
so.
We've
provided
credit
card
options
to
units
within
other
departments,
like
parks
and
dpw,
to
accommodate
operational
changes.
E
And
one
the
other
unit
is
the
business
intelligence
unit
and
that's
the
one.
I
lead
our
main
goal.
This
year,
we've
been
hands
on
on
focusing
on
development
of
the
new
tax
system.
Clovit
has
proven
to
us
that
we
need
to
get
this
going.
We
need
to
provide
an
ability
for
our
staff,
but
also
for
taxpayers
to
be
more
accessible
and
being
able
to
do
business
with
the
city
so
we're
currently
implementation
of
the
system.
We
are
actually
on
schedule.
E
This
is
scheduled
to
go,
live
in
june
2021,
and
this
will
consolidate
what
we
currently
use
11
different
data
sources
to
complete
their
process.
It
will
actually
be
combined
in
one
we.
This
system
will
actually
allow
us
to
integrate
with
other
departments,
which
is
great.
This
is
why
I
mentioned
about
creating
automation
for
tax
compliance
with
cx
and
pli
domain
departments
that
are
now
doing
permitting
online.
E
The
system
will
also
create
an
online
portal
access
for
all
taxpayers,
so
they
will
be
able
to
not
only
register
online
with
the
city
and
require
a
tax
id,
but
they
will
also
be
able
to
file
their
taxes
online
and
pay
online
as
well
is
our
goal
to
expand
the
one-stop
approach
at
our
cashier's
office
so
with
covet.
We
realized
that
combining
this
operation
into
one
area
not
only
make
it
accessible
for
the
customers,
they
know
where
to
go.
E
They
don't
have
to
go
to
multiple
desks
or
offices,
but
also
makes
it
efficient,
because
we
can
actually
cross
train
our
staff
so
that
we
will
be
more
hands
on
deck
and
starting
june
2021.
The
real
estate
and
business
tax
units
will
actually
receive
the
gis
parcel
data
monthly,
instead
of
once
a
year
as
it
is
now.
C
C
Real
estate
continues
is
performing
above
where
it
was
last
year,
d
transfer,
the
real
estate
market
has
done
well
during
this
pandemic,
although
that
those
those
it's
still
coming
under
budget.
So
that's
that's
still
a
concern,
but
it
is
running
ahead
of
where
it
was
last
year
and
then
the
the
next.
As
you
can
see,
local
services,
payroll,
prep,
amusement
facility
usage,
all
down
significantly
significantly
from
2019
local
services.
C
That's
the
52
fee,
local
services
and
payroll
prep
can
also
give
you
a
kind
of
a
idea
of
how
much
this
pandemic
has
hurt.
Businesses
here
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
amusement
tax
facility
usage
with
no
sports;
no,
no
games,
nothing
going
on
in
the
cultural
district,
we're
hurting
there
significantly
and,
as
you
can
see
parking
parking
tax
way
down
from
2019
with
no
one.
You
know
people
working
from
home
again,
no,
no
sports,
sports
or
anything
in
the
cultural
district.
C
D
D
D
D
Sorry,
who
mentioned
that
there
was
a
simulator
that
I
think
your
department
was
doing
about
revenue
projections
and
it
was
like
we
didn't
hear
all
the
details
and
I'm
wondering
if
you
have
more
of
the
details,
it's
something
like
a
company
out
of
philadelphia
has
been
hired
and
is
running
revenue
simulations.
That's
what
I
that's.
What
stuck
with
me.
C
Yeah
there's
a
company
called
econsult.
I
believe
they
had.
I
think
the
administration
started
working
with
them
and
before
I
started
that
back
in
during
the
summer
and
they've
been
looking
at
other
revenue
sources
and
just
trying
to
figure
out
where
we
can
maybe
come
up
with
some
other
revenue.
But
as
you,
as
you
all
know,
we're
kind
of
tired
as
far
as
what
we
can
do.
But
our
hands
are
tied
because
the
harrisburg,
but
so
that
that
that's,
what
that?
That's?
What
that
had
to
do
with.
D
C
D
Yeah,
thank
you
for
just
saying
that
so
directly,
we've
had
this
the
same
discussion,
a
couple
of
different
budget
hearings
right
if
at
least
they're
not
going
to
pay
their
property
taxes,
could
they
at
least
pay
their
payroll
preparation
tax?
And
there
are
many
thousands,
I'm
gonna,
guesstimate,
ten
thousand
positions
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh
that
are
not
paying
that
employees
are
not
paying
it
for
some
ten
thousand
payroll,
maybe
more.
D
You
know
better
aside
from
all
the
other
legislative
things
we
talked
to
the
land
bank.
This
week
we
talked
to
ura.
We
talked
about
property
reserve,
but
the
actual
just
logistics
of
the
administration
of
treasurer
or
sheriff's
sale.
That's
what
your
department
has
to
do
right,
and
so
that's
what
we
just
saw
if
you
want
to
just
elaborate
a
little
more
on
what
we
just
saw
in
the
presentation.
C
I
I
think
what
well
first
of
all,
we
already
know
what
we
have
right.
That's
one
thing
that
I've
talked
with
the
mayor
and
chief
gilman
about
maybe
doing
some
type
of
study
of
and
trying
to
just
figure
out
what
we
have,
because
we
got
you
know
we
don't
know
what
property,
what
we
have,
whether
you
know
vacant
property,
you
know.
C
I
think
we
can
do
some
things
with
title
searches
as
far
as
speeding
up
that
process.
I
think
that
process
has
been
taking
weeks
and
not
not
not
because
of
anything
that
staff
here
in
the
finance
department,
but
it's
just
the
the
number
and
the
we
we
contract
with
the
company
and
they
are
they're
so
backed
up.
So
I
think
that's
that
could
that's
a
cause.
C
You
know,
maybe
if
we
did
something
like
have,
if
somebody
wants
to
buy
a
piece
of
property,
allow
that
person
to
to
pay
for
their
own
title
search
to
kind
of
speed
up
that
process.
I
think
that
probably
gives
them
more
incentive
to
to
keep
the
process
going.
You
know
one
thing
we
have
an
issue
is
we
have
our
3tb
budget,
which
is
separate
or
trustworthy,
which
is
separate
from
the
finance
department
budget?
It's
not
in
the
best
place
right
now,
so
I
think
doing
something
like
that.
D
Right
we
and
it's
you
and-
and
you
should
communicate
these
things
to
council
right
we've
had
this
multi-year
discussion
about
how
to
move
that
inventory.
Repurpose
it
not
always
put
it
back
on
the
tax
roll.
I
will.
I
will
put
right.
That
is
a
when
we
have
right.
We
have
lots
parts
of
the
city
that
are
hyper
invested
with
skyrocketing
property
values
that
we
need
a
balance
of
into
just
because
the
city
is
changing
so
much.
D
There
are
some
places
where
we
need
to,
I
think,
look
at
creating
more
public
space
or
community
space
community
controlled
space
where
there's
been
gentrification
and
speculation
and
all
this
kind
of
stuff.
So
we
can
have
that
conversation
but
you're,
putting
the
nuts
and
bolts
in
place,
and
we
had
just
not
been
doing
that
for
a
very
very
long
time.
C
D
Thing
so
everyone's
everyone's
doing
it
lighter
these
days.
The
storm
water
assessments,
the
the
of
course
all
of
the
the
car
companies
and
airfield
communications,
they're
they're
using
lidar.
So
we
actually
have
some
lidar
companies
in
the
city
as
well,
because
that's
what
a
lot
of
the
autonomous
vehicle
companies.
D
D
Finally,
it
took
us
a
while
and
we
kept
extending
it.
So
could
you
clarify
for
me,
because
council
had
voted
on
changes
to
the
2007
lord?
It
was
pretty
dramatically
restructured
with
you
know,
cooperating
with
the
administration
that
and
then,
but
then
we
delayed
the
effective
date
a
couple
of
times
and
in
my
recollection,
that
the
update
to
alerta
was
to
take
effect
this
summer,
like
like
june,
so
do
you
know
like
for
we've?
D
You
know
our
development
community
is
kind
of
like
kicked
back
into
gear
and
there's
people
getting
their
building
permits
and
the
way
it
works
was
right
as
soon
as
you've
gotten
all
through
your
planning
processes
and
you
pull
your
building
permit
and
you
go
to
break
ground.
That's
when
you
kind
of
walk
over
and
apply
for
your
abatement,
if
you're
a
big
by
a
big
construction
site,
so
are
you
issuing
the
abatements
according
to
2007?
C
F
D
F
C
D
Great
great-
and
I
look
forward
to
seeing
reports
on
that,
which
was
another
thing
that
again,
you
were
helpful
with
at
the
controller's
office
right.
We
when
we
asked
about
it
in
2017,
because
2007
learners
were
expiring.
That's
why
I
asked
for
an
audit,
because
nobody
had
any
information.
I
said
well,
how
did
what
was
the
impact
of
our
2007
program?
D
But
there
was
a
there
was
a
moment
when
it
was
impossible
for
us
to
do
that
assessment,
and
so
I
hope
that
moving
forward
by
you,
tracking
and
keeping
track
there
was
literally
in
2017,
not
a
list
of
properties
that
were
receiving
their
abatements,
that
the
public
could
put
their
hands
on.
We
had
to
request
it
from
the
comptroller's
office
so
that
now
we
have.
That
was
the
last
time
I
saw
it
as
a
spreadsheet
of,
like
literally
give
me
a
spreadsheet,
of
every
parcel
with
an
abatement.
There
was
still
some
like
missing
data.
D
When
was
the
start
date
should
they
have
been
ended
by
now,
or
are
they
still
getting
an
abatement
that
maybe
they
shouldn't
be
getting
because
we
didn't
really
track
the
10-year
start
and
end
dates
so
moving
forward?
We
hope
that
we
have
kind
of
tight
information
and
management
of
the
alert
program.
C
D
D
G
Thank
you,
mr
chair,
thank
you,
director,
anderson
and
and
your
whole
team
for
being
here
and
for
your
work
today
or
for
your
work
throughout
the
year.
During
this
challenging
time
for
all
of
us,
I
wanted
to
call
attention
to
a
couple
of
slides
in
your
presentation
that
showed
some
efficiencies
in
your
operations
that
will
save
us
money
through
saving
staff
time
so
especially
on
tax
compliance.
Bringing
that
in-house
seems
very
positive,
and
hopefully
that's
been
a
positive
experience
for
you
all
so
far
and
some
other
places
as
well.
G
E
So
I
could
kind
of
jump
in
there.
So
finance
is
in
a
unique
place
because
with
the
system
we
will
definitely
be
able
to
improve
our
performance,
allow
for
speed
process
and
things
like
that,
but
what
we
will
need
to
do.
It
will
be
to
repurpose
current
roles
into
new
roles
that
will
be
more
focused
into
you
know
this
technology
process
that
have
been
you
know
currently
doing
you
know
paperwork,
so
it
would
be
a
way
for
us.
E
E
You
know
tasks
around
our
current
personnel
looking
to
not
increase
additional
personnel
having
more
vacancies,
it
will
be
challenging,
especially
because
we
want
to
increase
our
revenue
collections
right.
So
we
want
to
make
sure
that
we
have
more
people
in
our
front
end
cashier
in
area.
You
know
processing
mail
things
like
that,
so
the
payments
get
faster
to
the
bank
and
those
are
always
going
to
be.
You
know
people
doing
that
job
right.
People
had
to
feed
the
system
for
the
system
to
work,
so
I
say
yeah.
G
Understood,
that's
a
helpful
explanation
and
to
me
it
sounds
like
you're
having
to
do
what
the
workforce
generally
is
going
to
have
to
do.
As
automation
comes
online.
More
and
more
is
you
know,
you
see
job
elimination
and
then
you
see
new
jobs
in
response
to
that
automation,
pop
up
and
you're,
going
to
have
to
do
that
over
the
course
of
a
year
which
is
challenging
but
glad
to
hear
okay.
G
I
also
wanted
to
raise
the
issue
of
tax
compliance.
I
mean
your
job.
Your
task
is
to
ensure
that
the
revenues
are
such
that
our
cash
flow
remains
stable,
but
yet
with
covet
19
hitting
so
many
people
in
so
many
different
ways,
they
often
had
cash
flow
difficulties
and
maybe
an
inability
and
an
ability,
in
some
cases
to
pay
taxes
by
the
end
of
the
year,
but
not
an
ability
to
pay
taxes
on
a
quarterly
basis,
or
maybe
the
reverse
is
true.
C
In
situations
like
that,
we've
take
that
we
take
that
on
a
kind
of
like
case-by-case
basis,
we've
had
situations
and
we're
not
talking
a
large
amount
of
money.
But
you
know
if
there
was
a
business
who
were
current
on
their
taxes
and
you
know
paid
for
you
know
because
of
the
hardships
paid
something
late
or
you
know
we
would
wave
a
penalty
or
something
like
that
to
to
kind
of
to
to
ease
the
burden
on
them.
C
G
That's
good
to
hear
I
mean
I
think
we
as
council
members
here
directly
from
some
of
those
struggling
business
owners,
especially
in
the
hospitality
industry
and
say
you
know,
they're
hit
from
this
angle
and
that
angle,
from
the
county
tax
and
from
you
know
the
liquor
tax
and
from
various
city
taxes
and
to
know
that,
whether
you're
a
homeowner
or
whether
you
are
or
a
property
owner
or
you
are
a
business
owner
that
there
is
perhaps
not
necessarily
but
perhaps
some
flexibility.
There
is
good
to
hear.
G
On
the
topic
of
of
our
powers,
I
mean
I
these
days-
I
don't
know
who
all
is
tuning
into
these
budget
hearings.
I
think
there's
more
of
an
interest
in
our
operating
budget
than
in
years
past
and
so
taking
on
off
of
the
the
theme
that,
or
you
know,
picking
off
from
the
theme
that
councilwoman
gross
brought
up
on
what
taxes
we
have
the
power
and
ability
and
authority
to
touch.
G
C
C
C
My
you
know
my
our
city
controller
and
my
former
bosses
is
is
right.
He
would
he
always
says
you
know.
The
city
of
pittsburgh
exists
because
the
state
of
pennsylvania
says
he
can,
and
so
the
issue
we
have
is
we
have
to
rely
on
the
state
legislature
to
allow
us
to
to
levy
taxes
here
in
this
here
in
the
city.
So,
as
I
mentioned
earlier,
payroll
prep
tax,
you
know
where
we
can
that's
only
on
businesses.
Now
it's
not
all
non-profits.
C
C
C
B
H
You
had
some
goals
that
you
had
written
in
the
in
the
budget
and
I
just
wanted
to
ask
for
some
clarification
on
on
those
one
is
the
goal
to
replace
tax
and
property
data
software
with
solutions,
software
that
easily
integrates
with
other
systems,
and
I
was
just
curious
like
it,
I
mean
it
sounds
good
to
me,
but
I
just
want
to
know
what
you,
what
you
mean.
Are
you
replacing
a
system
called
e
properties.
C
E
Yeah,
the
impact
will
be
our
new
tax
system.
It
will
be
an
enterprise
system,
which
means
it
will
include
business
taxes
and
real
estate
taxes
in
one
system.
The
e-property
system-
you
you
referenced
is
this
the
sale
property
platform
that
we
use
and
that
will
be
tight.
It
will
be
an
integration
with
this
new
system
so
that
things
like
personal
id,
you
know
tax,
delinquencies
and
things
like
that
will
be
easily
accessible
from
the
sales
platform.
E
H
Okay,
okay,
you
also
have
a
a
goal
of
increasing
the
number
of
previously
unregistered
businesses
to
be
brought
into
compliance
and
with
the
the
times
that
we're
in
I
was
curious
to
you
know
in
terms
of
you
know,
small
businesses
and
keeping
them
afloat.
I
was
curious
on
how
you
intend
to
meet
that
goal.
At
the
same
time,
to
not
hurt
small
business.
E
So
the
non-registration
is
just
a
ordinance
that
requires
all
businesses
to
register
with
the
city
based
on
their
activity.
They
have
some
liabilities
and
they're
required
to
file.
You
know
tax
forms,
even
if
it's
zero
and
it's
just
a
way
that
this
the
city
you
know,
keep
an
accurate
count
of
how
many
businesses
are.
You
know,
have
activity
within
our
city
limits.
We
have
a
unique
challenge
and
is
that
you
know
in
the
larger
community.
The
city
of
pittsburgh
is
view
u.s
much
bigger
than
our
parcel
size
right.
E
So
a
lot
of
people
come
in
and
out
and
do
business
in
the
city
and
don't
know
that
they
should
be
registering
the
city
or
they
should
be
finding
a
portion
of
that
revenue
in
the
city.
So
the
idea
is
that
this
you
know,
process
become
more
accessible,
more
visual
for
everyone,
but
also
connects
with
other
entities
like
we're
doing
now
with
jordan
tax.
E
If
someone
in
a
corporation
that
files
an
earned
income
tax
with
jordan
means
that
they
do
an
activity
in
the
city
right,
so
they
should
be
registered
with
the
city
as
well,
so
we
are
partnering
with
them
with
the
new
system,
we'll
be
having
direct
interface
with
them.
That
way,
if
they
fail
to
raise
her
with
the
city,
but
they
file
taxes
with
jordan,
we
can
say
hey.
H
Okay,
thank
you
for
for
that
and
then
another
one
of
your
goals
that
I
was
just
picking
out
was-
and
you
touched
on
this
already,
but
I
just
wanted
some
clarification
on
it.
You
have
streamlined
the
property
sale
and
in
the
acquisition
process
in
order
to
improve
the
efficiency
and
coordination
to
increase
revenues,
reduce
costs
and
the
processing
times.
H
Now
you
have
that
as
a
goal,
but
like
that's
pretty
big
yeah,
that's
a
that's
a
big
goal.
Is
that
like?
How
do
you
plan
to
accomplish
that?
Like
I
said,
I
know
you
alluded
to
some
of
this
before,
but
can
you
put
some
numbers
on
that
goal
like
how
many
properties
do
you
plan
to
sell
and
like
what
would
be
expedited
in
the
process.
E
E
E
H
E
E
All
that
process
is
on
paper
and
the
idea
now
is
that
when
we
move
to
a
new
system,
when
a
person
goes
to
register,
apply
for
a
license
or
even
renew
their
license,
they
will
put
the
tax
id
number
on
the
system
and
the
system
will
automatically
say:
yep
go
ahead,
you're
good
to
go
or
no.
There
is
a
problem.
You
know
this
is
what
you
need
to
do
so
trying
to
facilitate
that
without
have
to
wait.
E
You
know
for
someone
to
generate
a
letter,
or
you
know,
make
a
call,
especially
in
times
like
with
covet.
You
know
it's
really
challenging
to
to
have
this
paper
process.
So
it's
going
to
improve
the
customer
experience,
but
it's
also
going
to
shorten
the
the
permitting
approval
process
on
the
other
end
as
well.
H
H
C
A
H
I
Hey
doug
good,
to
see
you
again
good
to
see
you
councilman
and
looks
like
you're
all
settled
in
at
this
point
and
that
can't
be
an
easy
task
with
the
under
circumstances
to
not
be
able
to
see
your
team,
but
I
will
say
in
listening
to
you:
it
looks
like
you
came
into
a
really
good
situation
with
jennifer
and
narita.
There
to
you
know,
keep
the
ship
steady
during
your
transition.
So
so
so
it
sounds
like
you
got
a
great
team
there.
I
just
had
a
couple
questions
doug.
I
I
You
know
we'll
have
an
amicable
settlement
with
the
nonprofits
and
we
won't
have
to
pursue
something
like
that,
but
at
some
point,
though,
we
need
revenue
or
some
some
sort
of
contribution
from
the
nonprofits.
There's
no
question
in
my
mind:
I
take
it.
That's
the
way
you
feel
too
and
what
you
said
and
not
to
put
you
on
the
spot.
But
do
you
want
to
elaborate
on
that
at
all
yeah.
C
B
C
You're
you're
absolutely
correct.
We
need
the
help
from
harrisburg.
We
need
to
to
to
be
able
to
to
do
what
we
you
know
get
getting
those
more.
You
know
more
revenue
through.
Maybe
you
know
the
payroll
prep
and
maybe
some
others
that
I'm
not
thinking
of
right
now.
So
you
know
it's
like
we're
at
their
mercy
almost,
but
you
know,
hopefully
we
can
have
conversations
with
them
about
how
to
move
that
forward.
I
Yeah,
I
hope
so
too,
I
mean
they're
a
big
part
of
the
city
and
I
for
the
most
part,
support
all
these.
You
know
cmu
pit,
you
name
it.
I
think
they're,
wonderful
institutions
and
you
know
we're
blessed
to
have
them
in
the
city,
but
at
the
same
time
you
know.
Let's
come
to
that.
So
the
other
question
I
had
was
on
jordan
tax
services.
Now
we
hire
them
out
and
they
are
based
out
of.
F
I
F
I
I
A
B
Yeah,
I
just
but
first
I
want
to
thank
doug
for
coming
on
and
doing
what
he's
doing
as
well
as
jennifer
and
yoda
finance
does
an
excellent
job.
I
did
have
a
a
couple
questions,
real,
quick
just
for
clarification
for
myself,
something
I
didn't
get
out
the
pension
payments
in
the
plan.
This
is
something
I
forgot
to
ask
director
paulus
as
well,
too.
B
The
pension
payments
are
decreased
by
approximately
1.6
million
dollars
and
if
you
can't
get
the
answer
now,
that's
fine,
but
I
was
just
trying
to
get
a
clarification
because
we
haven't
in
our
ordinances
that
we
have
a
break-even
point
with
our
pension
payments.
So
in
other
words,
we
pay
we
put
in
what
we
pay
out.
So
between
the
parking
asset
and
the
employee
contributions.
We
make
sure
that
that
is
even
so,
we
don't
have
to
cash
in
on
any
of
the
investments
and
the
investment
can
continue
to
grow.
B
B
Not
that
I'm
going
to
retire
anytime
soon,
the
the
other
point
that
I
wanted
to
get
well
on
our
tax
revenues
or
current
taxes
or
they're,
and
I
want
to
give
a
plug
to
sarah
capps
who's,
been
doing
a
great
job,
keeping
us
up
to
date
on
our
on
your
projections.
Another
time
covered,
it
seems
like
we
don't
really
have
many
with
the
exception,
maybe
the
the
transfer
tax
and
our
real
estate
tax.
B
As
far
as
the
other
amusement
taxes
and
all
that
kind
of
stuff,
it's
almost
impossible
to
you
know
to
to
forecast,
but
we
have
seen
some
increases
in
revenue
as
the
ebbs
and
flows
of
opening
and
closing
and
all
that
goes
is
there
any
do?
We
have
any
certainty
over
the
next
couple
months
of
what
may
or
may
not
happen,
based
upon
what
we've
seen
already.
C
B
B
And
and
just
finally,
I
wanted
to
make
a
comment
on
the
non-profit
piece
as
well
too
something
I've
advocated
for
a
long
time
since
2003,
when
I
got
involved
in
some
of
the
negotiations
in
harrisburg
and
costed.
Some
of
that
out.
We
were
this
close
to
getting
a
non-profit
agreement
or
not
agreement,
but
having
the
non-profit
payroll
tax
voted
on
in
harrisburg
and
passed,
and
unfortunately,
we
missed
out
on
that
and
missed
out
on
so
some
additional
revenues
that
we
needed
to
make
our
city
whole.
B
At
that
point,
I
would
hope
that
there
is
an
opening
now,
because
it's
not
just
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
that's
hurting.
This
could
benefit
all
the
the
larger
municipalities
throughout
the
state
anywhere
there's
larger
non-profits.
So
I
I
would
hope
that
that
we
would
lobby
harrisburg
for
this.
I
think
there's
a
window
at
this
point
in
time,
but
I
hope
we've
gotten
better
support
the
administration
needs
your
department
needs
or
the
controller
needs
I'd,
be
glad
to
make
sure
that
that's
available
from
from
my
historic
records.
A
B
Yes,
the
department
of
law
provides
legal
advice
and
services
as
in-house
corporate
council
of
the
city,
which
often
involves
providing
advice
to
the
mayor
city,
director,
city
council
and
various
government
units
it
represents
represents
the
city
in
all
legal
aspects
of
its
stable,
daily
government
functions.
It
also
represents
the
city
in
high
profile
cases,
significantly
impacting
public
policy
and
city
residents.
B
One
assistant
solicitors
decreased
from
94
000
388
dollars
to
position
to
eighty
seven
thousand
five
hundred
three
dollars:
there's
a
part-time
law
clerk
whose
hours
are
decreased
from
nine
thousand
to
seven
thousand
three
hundred
and
twenty
total
amount.
There
is
a
from
a
hundred
and
120
000
to
109
thousand
dollars.
B
A
B
Okay,
let
me
just
go
into
the
budget
here,
for
them
total
budget
169
thousand
dollars.
It
decreases
from
what
was
anticipated.
In
last
year's,
I
mean
by
five
thousand
dollars
on
salary.
Budgeted
line
items
have
been
reduced
by
sixty
eight
hundred
dollars
from
what
was
in
last
year's
five-year
plan.
Legal
plan
for
outside
council
was
reduced
from
fifty
thousand
to
forty
five
thousand
court.
Related
fees
are
reduced
by
sixteen
hundred
dollars
and
workforce
training
is
reduced
by
175.
B
J
J
J
Those
22
attorneys
are
broken
down
into
four
main
areas
that
many
of
you
have
an
executive
session
or
otherwise
come
across
a
number
of
the
attorneys
there's
the
federal
group,
and
they
deal
with
the
section
1983
civil
rights
claims
and
employment
discrimination
claims.
Primarily
then
we
have
the
state
tort
group
state
court
group,
which
primarily
deals
with
torts,
so
the
kind
of
trips
and
falls
and
other
claims
tort
claims
brought
against
the
city.
J
We
then
have
the
labor
and
employment
group.
They
deal
primarily
with
labor
negotiations
and
contracts
dealing
with
grievance
disputes,
as
well
as
compliance
advice
to
hr
and
other
departments,
and
then
we
have
the
largest
group,
which
is
the
municipal
group,
and
those
are
the
attorneys
that,
in
addition
to
kind
of
the
separate
practice
areas
of
taxes,
zoning
right
to
know
and
real
estate
deal
with
the
day-to-day
corporate
council
affairs
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
So
they're.
J
I
also
want
to
commend
those
attorneys
who
not
only
have
been
handling
the
day-to-day
work,
but
also
a
number
of
questions
that,
frankly,
we
never
have
had
to
deal
with
in
terms
of
kind
of
operating
during
a
long-term
pandemic,
and
I
I
do
feel
very
lucky
and
grateful
to
work
with
such
a
great
team
in
terms
of
of
goals
for
next
year,
the
law
department.
We
have
a
number,
but
I
just
will
highlight
three
one.
J
We
also
are
looking
to
update
a
number
of
what
I'll
call
our
standard
templates
that
we
use
for
various
types
of
contracts
in
line
with
best
practices
and
we're
also
looking
into
best
practices
with
hiring
outside
counsel
and
adopting
some
of
those
as
we
proceed
into
2021,
and
that's
you
know
really
the
background
I
wanted
to
present
and
councilman
level.
If
there
are
any
questions,
I'm
happy
to
address
them.
I
Okay,
thank
you.
Thank
you,
yvonne
good,
to
see
you
team,
so
yvonne.
I
just
want
to
address.
Often
I
use
these
budget
hearings
to
try
to
address
some
of
my
own
business.
Okay,
and
this
is
just
something
I
want
to
make
sure
it's
on
your
radar
screen
and
it
has
to
deal
with
legal,
of
course,
and
it's
concerning
berg
place
and
carrick.
I
You
know
we
had
been
meeting
often
when
we
were
downtown
to
some
degree
as
to
where
that
was
at,
but
I
really
need
that
cleared
up.
You
know
we're
trying
to
find
a
developer
to
look
at
the
place,
but
it's
kind
of
all
held
up.
You
know
and
it
has
been
for
years.
So
do
you
know
anything
about
that?
Is
there
any
updates
on
that.
J
I
Okay,
I
would
appreciate
that
now
I
don't
want
to
hold
the
other
members
back
with
my
personal
business,
but
the
other
thing
was,
you
know.
As
far
as
like
our
judgements
go
for,
like
you
said
the
tort,
people
trip
and
fall,
you
know
regardless
what
it
is
city
sidewalk,
and
we
see
it
every
week
pretty
much
in
front
of
us.
You
know
settlement
case
for
twenty
two
thousand
one
for
twelve
thousand.
Are
we
and
I
know
how
to
you
know
I
kind
of
know
how
it
works?
C
I
J
So
it
depends
a
lot
of
the
matters
that
eventually
turn
into
lawsuits
are
originally
brought
as
claims,
and
so
we
sometimes
have
two
bikes
at
the
apple.
So
to
speak
and
often
you
know,
the
claims
administrators
apply
the
applicable
law
under
the
tort
claims
act.
There
are
times
where
the
city
is
simply
immune
from
liability,
and
we
would
deny
the
claim
and
often
people
will
come
back
and
file
a
lawsuit
and
so
yeah
I
mean
we're
always
bringing
out
the
best
defenses
for
the
city.
There
are
times
where.
J
I
J
J
I
I
understand
you
know
the
last
couple
of
years
have
been
a
really
tragic
landslide
issues
and
flooding
has,
you
know
not
been
there.
However,
I'm
expecting
it
back
full
force
at
some
point
and
there's
no
reason
why
we
probably
couldn't
put
that
money
into
you
know
for
landslides,
it's
kind
of
just
emergency
for
natural
disasters
right.
J
Well,
whether
it's
in
the
judgment
account
that
it's,
if
we're
sued
and
we
have
to
pay
it
out
whether
it's
it's
coming
from
the
law
department's
judgment
account
or
if
it's
paid
through
another
account.
I
like,
I
said
that
generally
depends
on
where
I
omb
decides
to
put
it.
But
for
the
past
couple
of
years,
they've
decided
to
put
funding
for
landslides
and
kind
of
the
acquisition
of
properties,
in
conjunction
with
landslides
in
the
law
department,
account
right.
I
H
H
J
Right
so
that
was
the
number
of
contracts
reviewed
and
that
would
include-
and
that
was
in
2019.
That
would
include
a
variety
of
things.
So
you
know,
there's
always
going
to
be
authorization
from
council
to
enter
into
each
of
these
contracts,
but
some
of
them
may
be
grant
agreements
where
you're
kind
of
authorizing
the
the
money
per
particular
program.
So
it's
not
necessarily
331
separate
resolutions.
A
J
J
It
tends
to
be
in
two
areas
either
for
areas
that
are
quite
specialized,
where
we
need
some
assistance
or
in
areas
where
we
have
a
potential
of
a
conflict
of
interest
where,
because
the
law
department
needs
to
represent
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
normally
we
can
also
represent
named
directors
or
other
officials
who
are
named,
but
there
are
some
times
where
we.
We
cannot
do
that
due
to
a
potential
conflict
of
interest.
So
then
we
would
have
to
hire
outside
counsel.
E
J
A
Less
than
10
okay,
I
just
remember
some
years
some
years
back,
there
were
a
number
of
cases
where
we
did
hire
outside
counsel
and
there
was
just
a
conversation
of,
and
obviously
we
can't
do
it
right
now.
But
there
was
a
conversation
of
do.
We
need
to
beef
up
internally,
our
own
law
department,
so
that
we're
not
having
to
go
out
to
outside
counsel
as
often
but
I
haven't
seen
that
recently
either.
So
that's
why
I
was
really
just
curious.
J
A
Okay
appears
to
be
working.
Thank
you
very
much.
If
nothing,
if
nothing
else
from
members,
we
do
need
to
announce
that
budget
hearings
will
continue
tomorrow.
First
at
10
a.m,
with
the
department
of
public
works,
both
the
administration,
environmental
services
facilities
and
operations,
and
that
will
be
chaired
by
councilman
coghill
and
then
at
1
30.
We
will
have
parks
and
recreation
which
will
be
chaired
by
reverend
burgess
and
then
immediately
following
parks
and
recreation.
We
will
have
the
newly
created
office
of
community
health
and
safety,
which
I
will
be
chairing
so
with
that.