Greetings from the Mayor’ s Office and the City of McKeesport! cKeesport
MAYOR’ S
Corner
MICHAEL CHEREPKO
Greetings from the Mayor’ s Office and the City of McKeesport! cKeesport
CITY OF MCKEESPORT NEWS
As 2025 comes to a close and we look ahead to 2026, it’ s important to talk about the experiences we’ ve had and things we can look forward to in the coming year. A full season of City activities has come to a close, and we have started planning for more.
It’ s also the time of year that I address City Council and our community’ s residents about or financial planning and general operations for the coming year. I’ m proud to say that McKeesport’ s 2026 budget holds the line on property taxes and overall spending.
Each and every year, we talk about doing more with less – providing our residents with the services they need and deserve, compensating our staff with fair wages and benefits, and maintaining an efficient workplace that upholds its commitment to our community. As costs of living increase, along with the price tags on materials and resources, the work we do is taking place with fewer dollars in our coffers. We have a solid reserve remaining from the 2017 sale of the Municipal Authority of the City of McKeesport’ s sewage system, but I make a point to acknowledge every year that this cushion won’ t last forever. For this reason, we must be at the top of our game with revenue collection; and as obvious as that strategy seems, it’ s more complex than you’ d think.
The 2026 budget holds the line on property taxes and municipal service fees. In our two-tier tax system, we will maintain our current rate of 20.5 mills on land and 11.26 mills on buildings. Having a low property tax rate is vital, not only in helping our many residents on fixed incomes during these trying economic times, but also in attracting new residents and businesses to affordable properties in McKeesport. Because of that, the people of McKeesport will continue to pay less in taxes than property owners across much of Allegheny County. Our quarterly Municipal Service Fees will remain $ 100 per quarter
for each household, with an available senior rate of $ 80 per quarter for eligible owner-occupied households that apply.
Our 2026 spending plan puts our best available estimates of expenditures up against an aggressive revenue collection plan. We are fully aware that our operational costs have increased, and it’ s up to us to be certain we are collecting every penny that is due to the City of McKeesport. While our tax-paying property owners are expected to pay their fair share, they cannot cover everything – most certainly not the balance to make up for those who aren’ t paying. For this reason, we have been diligent in collecting delinquencies and establishing payment plans to increase collections on all that is due. This includes liens on properties, where they owners have not entered agreements to pay off outstanding balances on property taxes and municipal service fees.
In addition to this focused attention on current and taxes, we have all hands on deck to organize our business privilege taxes, mechanical device fees, and others. As I stated last year, we already have increased our collection rate for fees and earned income taxes by keeping a more accurate record of who is moving in and out of McKeesport and what businesses are setting up shop here. By collecting more of what is due, it has allowed us to keep our fees and tax rates lower despite the ever-increasing costs of health insurance, our Minimum Municipal Obligations required to be paid into our pension funds, as well as fuel and utilities.
This is something that City Administrator Thomas Maglicco and Finance Director Tasha Phelps have been working hard to address in recent years. They have streamlined revenue collection and tightened our budget, which is critical to our future financial success. It is important to acknowledge this administration’ s positive strides – noting that every one of us works diligently throughout the course of a budget year to achieve goals that will sustain our City and support our community. Our City’ s finances have a strong impact on municipal operations as well as our
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