Proposed Pittsburgh 2017 Budget: No Tax Increase; Large Improvements (Knox, Wall: how much, construction)

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Except when making those cuts would be cutting into the bone, but I digress.

The first thing to do is address corruption and wasteful spending. After that you should know what the additional taxes are going to be used for rather than throwing good money away, but I digress.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Except when making those cuts would be cutting into the bone, but I digress.

Come on now, there is too much money being wasted.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I'll just agree to disagree here before Yac spanks us for discussing national politics.



Walked across the 28th Street Bridge lately? The exposed rebar sticking out all over that thing's sidewalks is a personal injury waiting to happen. A few months ago someone actually filled up a 10-gallon-sized paint bucket with chunks of crumbling concrete and left it there. Swineburne Street Bridge isn't in the best of shape. Davis Avenue Bridge? How many years have Brighton Heights residents been promised that would be replaced? The Herron Avenue Bridge looks pretty crappy, too. Let's not even begin to mention the deplorable condition many of the city steps are in, and how often do DPW crews salt them in the winter? The litter, especially cigarette butts, is everywhere. So are those weeds sticking out of the sidewalks and curbs. It makes the entire city look like garbage. I refuse to walk around the city on my weekends, when I have a stressful job, picking up other people's cigarette butts. I didn't realize that made me "lazy".

I've always been a Utopian. I blame it on so many years of playing SimCity for hours on end trying every sort of metric in the book to balance things to make my little sim people happy. Many on here seem to relish in mediocrity. If we want this city to be the best city it can possibly be, then we can't just look at exposed rebar on bridges, cigarette butts, small tree-sized weeds jutting out of curbs, and city steps that wobble when you walk up and down them and think "good enough, n'at." The San Francisco and Brooklyn yuppies pouring into the city to pay $2,500/month rents aren't going to stand for that. My rent is less than 1/3 of that, and I don't want to stand for that, either. If it takes higher taxes, then so be it.

I didn’t say it made you lazy, I said I was too lazy to pick up more litter than I currently do. Imagine though if everyone just picked up the litter on their street. I do it before I tie up my last trash bag that I set out for pickup. Takes all of 5 minutes. I am not talking about being on your hands and kneads picking up cigarette butts, but rather the trash that others toss. It would make a huge impact.

FYI...there is human excrement on the streets of San Francisco, right on the doorstep of million dollar homes. I am not saying we settle for status quo, but there are some things that individuals can do to show some pride in their neighborhoods and they cost the city nothing.

[zipman]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

How about them trash can sensors!?! I actually think that is a great idea, and for someone that has no real complaints about city living it’s those little things that matter to me.

What is a trash can sensor?

For random city improvement, I'd love to see a little more effort on painting over the graffiti.

Also, is there a way to donate specifically to the City of Pittsburgh Police?

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by zipman

What is a trash can sensor?

For random city improvement, I'd love to see a little more effort on painting over the graffiti.

Also, is there a way to donate specifically to the City of Pittsburgh Police?

They are going to install sensors in public trash cans so that they alert the city when they are full and need emptied, rather than paying people to drive around checking them all.

Depending on how this will work, I have to wonder if this could also be a means to monitor the weight of trash cans. If in a busy public location, if the weight of a trash can increases dramatically, it could be sign of something dangerous being placed in the trash can and could alert the city.

[sealie]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I'll just agree to disagree here before Yac spanks us for discussing national politics.

PolitiFact's guide to the 2016 presidential candidate tax plans | PolitiFact

You're entitled to your own opinion. You are not entitled to your own facts.

[mbw5100]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Except when making those cuts would be cutting into the bone, but I digress.

Cutting the budget to the bone, or taxing the flesh off my bones... I know what I'd choose!

You can't just increase taxes to create a utopia overnight. It's all about increasing the tax base. And, that's definitely happening, as this budget indicates. The right decisions are being made, you just need a bit of patience.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by mbw5100

Cutting the budget to the bone, or taxing the flesh off my bones... I know what I'd choose!

You can't just increase taxes to create a utopia overnight. It's all about increasing the tax base. And, that's definitely happening, as this budget indicates. The right decisions are being made, you just need a bit of patience.

You don't have to cut to the bone or raise the tax base, it takes correct budgeting and auditing of all departments to cut out the waste and overspending. The city pays alot out in overtime to fire fighters and police instead of increasing staffing, the public works does not seem to have a plan, they install bike lanes on one road that gets paved a week later, there were the $1000 garbage cans that had Mayor Luke's name on them, instead of buying new cans they could have bought a plaque to cover the old sign for 1/10th of the cost. The city has a police officer at every road construction project anymore, they don't do anything but sit in there cars with the lights flashing. If the city eliminates wasteful spending and poor planning, services will get better and cost less.

[eschaton]

Not quite sure how a story about the city getting its financial house in order - improving services without raising taxes - turned into a whinge-fest about how terrible the city is financially. Can't we just take a few days to consider that the city is turning in the right direction, however slowly? Tax revenue is on the rise, and as a result the City can provide for better services without changing the mill rate or engaging in major structural reform. That seems an unqualified win to me.

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Not quite sure how a story about the city getting its financial house in order - improving services without raising taxes - turned into a whinge-fest about how terrible the city is financially. Can't we just take a few days to consider that the city is turning in the right direction, however slowly? Tax revenue is on the rise, and as a result the City can provide for better services without changing the mill rate or engaging in major structural reform. That seems an unqualified win to me.

Pittsburgh pessimism