Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato continued efforts Monday to rally support for her $1.2 billion budget proposal – and its accompanying tax increase – arguing that investments in social services will pay off in the future and help vulnerable residents.
“It's our duty to explain the benefits of what happens when [county residents] pay their taxes. They are willing to part with that money when it goes to our neighbors in need,” Innamorato said at a press conference at a Kane Community Living Center in Scott.
The county-run nursing facility is one of four spread across the region. Rising occupancy, an increased reliance on contract nursing agencies, and increased operating costs at the facilities have helped drive up the county’s year-over-year expenditures for the system, contributing to a deficit that could top $81 million.
The budget would allocate $114 million to the Kane system next year, and $64 million to the Department of Human Services’ Area Agency on Aging, which offers programs to older adults including in-home care, meal delivery, and senior centers. Though the Kane system would receive nearly 11% more than was awarded in 2024 under the proposal, overall spending marks just a 3% bump over the 2024 budget – in line with past increases in previous years.
Innamorato also proposed a 2.2 mill property tax increase to offset the county’s long-running structural deficit and the end of federal COVID relief aid, which once helped fill the budget gaps. If passed, the tax hike would be the first in 12 years and bring the property tax rate to 6.93 mills. According to county officials, it would bring in $167 million in additional property tax revenue and cost homeowners of properties assessed at the median value (about $110,000) an additional $15 each month.
Monday, Innamorato said her budget proposal would allow providers to maintain their current services and make critical investments in specialized memory care, behavioral care and dialysis units. She argued such services are more important than ever: Nearly 20% of Allegheny County’s population is aged 65 and older. As some privately owned nursing homes in the area have closed and others remain costly, occupancy and operating costs at the Kane centers have reached historic highs. The number of residents across the four facilities has gone up more than 30% since 2022.
A budget with less than a 2.2 mill increase could threaten gains made in recent years and mean eliminating $20 million in programs and training for staff, said Kane system executive director Dennis Biondo.
“The funding for nursing facilities that come from the [state and federal] government in a lot of cases just hasn't kept up,” Biondo said. “If you cut the [county] budget, we just can't take care of as many residents.”
DHS director Erin Dalton added that any decrease in county funds for the department could mean forfeiting millions of dollars in matching money from the state and federal government. For every $1 the county contributes, DHS draws down about $4 in state and federal funds, Dalton said – and budget cuts would mean the county could end up leaving money on the table.
But County Council members, who must approve the budget, have been vocal about their disapproval of Innamorato’s proposal. Ten of 15 council members have said they will not vote for a 2.2 mill increase, and some are in the process of compiling counter proposals likely to include possible budget cuts.
Sam DeMarco, one of the few Republicans on council and the party’s chair in Allegheny County, has urged Innamorato to implement austerity measures and identify efficiencies.
A property tax increase is “pure and simple, a penalty imposed on families and seniors who invested in their homes, improved their properties, and are now expected to cover the new executive’s political agenda,” DeMarco said in a statement after the budget was introduced last month.
He criticized the choice to expand social services and allot money to economic development projects while taxpayers are “facing the very same challenges” as the county, including increased costs for food, fuel, and rent.
Innamorato maintains that an increase in the homestead exemption from $18,000 to $21,000 will take some of the sting out of the hike, especially for lower income homeowners.
A tax increase is the “difficult but responsible thing,” she told reporters after the press conference.
“The more we invest in this infrastructure, the more dollars we can draw down [from the federal and state governments] to help be as financially [self] sufficient as possible. But it requires an upfront investment on the county's dime,” she said. Some cost-cutting measures, like bringing nurses from contract agencies in-house, will require investment up front, she argued.
“I believe that the majority of Allegheny County residents, when they know that their taxpayer dollars are going towards supporting our older residents, they're okay parting with that money. It's just our duty to explain the benefits of what happens when they pay their taxes.”
Despite the pushback from council, Innamorato said she remains confident the proposal will ultimately get the two-thirds supermajority of council members required to pass a tax hike. She closed the Kane event by urging residents who support the budget to contact their representative on council.
Innamorato acknowledged that raising taxes during difficult financial times for many is “a big ask.” But she said, “Tax dollars aren't just numbers in a balance sheet. It's about the human beings that make our county run each and every day.”
Innamorato and council must approve a budget before Dec. 6.
