G20 Ordinance to be Proposed in County Council

An Allegheny County Councilman is introducing an ordinance proposing that county tax money should not be used to fund security for the G20 Summit. The G20 security budget is approximately $18 million. And Councilman Matt Drozd says he has two priorities: fulfilling taxpayer needs and fulfilling public safety needs. But if hosting the G20 Summit means taking money away that would go towards infrastructure improvements, then that’s not right.

However, Drozd says if local tax dollars must be used, the federal government should have an obligation to reimburse that money. Drozd says this is a big commitment for Pittsburgh to take on, and he’s not sure if the city will be able to provide adequate needs of both the summit and taxpayers. The federal and state governments are committed to reimburse nearly $15 million of the costs.