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Wilkinsburg residents won’t be voting on whether to have their borough annexed by the city of Pittsburgh in November. A committee in favor of the merger announced Monday it will delay a referendum on the issue in favor of gathering more community input first.
“After productive meetings with Pittsburgh City Council, community stakeholders and the public at large, we have concluded that the compressed schedule required to place the referendum on the November 2021 ballot would not allow for the productive dialogue appropriate to address important details related to the seamless integration of the two municipalities,” said Tracey Evans, executive director of the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation.
Controller Lamb wants potential Wilkinsburg-Pittsburgh merger to spur more talks about municipal consolidation pghcitypaper.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pghcitypaper.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb
Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb said that despite a “very challenging year” caused by the coronavirus, Pittsburgh’s finances are in better shape than many other places. He credited both sound management and an eds-and-meds economy even if he sounded unimpressed by commitments from the eds-and-meds sector announced by Mayor Bill Peduto Thursday.
“Obviously, the pandemic created major disruption in our lives, in our economy and clearly the city finances as well,” Lamb said in introducing the city’s Consolidated Annual Financial Report Friday morning. The city’s amusement and parking taxes in particular were hurt by coronavirus shutdowns and limits on gatherings: Parking revenues dropped by nearly half, to $31.3 million, while the amusement tax dropped by over $10 million to just $2.5 million.