Pittsburgh Unveils New Tool To Let Taxpayers Determine City Spending Priorities
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- When you pay your taxes every year, do you know where all of your money goes?
Not exactly.
Well, the City of Pittsburgh has a new tool called "Balancing Act" to show you.
"Today, they're going to be able to see exactly what it is that they paid for and how much of it went to all of the different services that they paid for," declared Mayor Bill Peduto.
"You'll be able to go in put in your annual income, the price of your home, and then what happens, you get a receipt, and it shows you all of the different ways in which your tax dollars are spent," explained Jen Presutti, the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
But the information is not just a one way street.
The city also wants to give you the virtual checkbook, and see where you might spend city tax dollars.
"They're also going to be given the opportunity to say, 'Hey, what if I put more into paving, what if I were to add more to police, what if I wanted more into our parks," said the mayor. "And then giving them the opportunity to create their own budget, where their priorities are, and the ability to share that with us."
Officials say that information will help them craft next year's budget.
"It is really useful for the Office of Management and Budget for them to be able to take this data, to see what people are prioritizing, how does that work into our capital budget formation for 2019 and beyond, and really looking at what the public supports," added Presutti.
Click this link to visit the Balancing Act website and try it for yourself.
