Compared to peers, Pittsburgh taxes and spends more, but grows less

(The Center Square) — A new analysis finds that Pittsburgh has a glut of city workers and more government spending relative to comparative cities, holding back growth.

The result, an analysis from an Allegheny Institute for Public Policy suggests, is a place that has been “lethargic” coming out of the pandemic .

“Pittsburgh compares poorly to the benchmark city,” Research Director Eric Montarti and Research Assistant Alex Sodini wrote, comparing it to an average of Columbus, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Omaha, Nebraska; and Salt Lake City, Utah. “Pittsburgh’s estimated population is less than half of the benchmark city. Since 2020, Pittsburgh’s population has been relatively unchanged while the benchmark city grew 2.1 percent.”

Though Pennsylvania’s second-largest city had above-average revenues per capita, it also had above-average taxes, spending, and debt.

“Pittsburgh’s debt per capita stood at $1,656. While Pittsburgh has made strides to close the gap with the benchmark city in the past, Pittsburgh’s debt per capita was 41 percent higher compared to the benchmark city,” Montarti and Sodini wrote.

The root problem, they argued, came from Pittsburgh’s “chronic overspending” on an outsized city workforce.

“Compared to the benchmark city, Pittsburgh had almost four more total employees per 1,000 people (48% greater),” Montarti and Sodini wrote. “At the benchmark city’s rate, Pittsburgh would have only around 2,400 employees, roughly 1,100 fewer. Police and fire employees (civilian and sworn) per 1,000 people were also higher, with 22% and 38% more staffing than the benchmark city, respectively.”

They also noted that the city’s public school enrollment was almost 70% lower than the benchmark city, but per-student spending was 120% higher as the district faced “serious performance and budgetary challenges.”

“Pittsburgh’s lethargic emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic stood in stark contrast to the impressive recovery and improvement of the benchmark city,” Montarti and Sodini wrote. “The latest comparison of financial and employment data on a per capita basis demonstrates in detail Pittsburgh’s very poor performance against the benchmark city on nearly every metric.”

Montarti and Sodini argued the city has “an overbearing public sector which has impeded growth and gives the city a reputation as being unfriendly to business.”