Wilkinsburg Borough Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a proposal that would double the resident earned income tax from 1% to 2%, a move officials say is necessary to close a projected $2.9 million deficit in the borough's 2027 budget. The plan would also impose a new 1% earned income tax on nonresidents who work in the borough, which currently taxes them at 0%.
The proposal, first reported by Pittsburgh's Public Source, would reshape how the existing 1% resident tax is split. Right now that revenue is divided equally between the borough and the Wilkinsburg Borough School District. Under the new structure, the district would keep its 0.5% share while the borough's cut would triple to 1.5%. Finance Director Carole Salisbury projects the increase would generate $5 million for the borough in 2027 and $6.8 million in 2028, according to the outlet's reporting.
For a typical working resident, the change would mean paying roughly $760 more a year, based on 2024 median salary data cited in the report. Wilkinsburg's working-age residents had a median income of $37,575 in 2024, and the borough's overall median household income is $46,416, with 20.4% of residents living below the poverty line.
A Shrinking Fund Balance and a Decade-Long Warning
Wilkinsburg's general fund balance has declined sharply, from $5.5 million in 2023 to a projected $1.5 million this year, per the borough's draft budget. The borough is projecting $12.8 million in total revenue for 2027 against that $2.9 million gap. Officials first discussed raising the earned income tax back in 2023, the same year the borough's attempt to annex into Pittsburgh failed amid a shrinking population and an eroding revenue base.
Borough officials have described raising the income tax as the only alternative to the deficit and have warned that failing to raise revenue could force cuts to public safety, road and infrastructure maintenance, snow removal, parks, recreation and cultural programming, stormwater compliance and environmental protection. Councilmember Renee Haynes-Johnson said expenses are climbing while revenues remain steady, making it harder to maintain services without more money coming in. Salisbury told the outlet that if the proposal fails, the borough will have to reduce services across the board, potentially including fewer police officers and public works staff, along with possible layoffs of salaried employees.
How Home Rule Changed the Math
Pennsylvania state law normally limits a municipality's combined resident earned income tax to 1%, a cap confirmed in the borough's own tax ordinance on ecode360.com, which has set the resident rate at that level since 2012. Wilkinsburg adopted a home rule charter in 2024 that exempts it from that state limit, a change previously detailed by Public Source in coverage of the home rule ballot question, which noted that the earned income tax rate is capped at 1% under the Borough Code and that home rule status allows a municipality to raise it beyond that ceiling.
That same borough's property tax rate sits at 14 mills, higher than all but five other Allegheny County municipalities, according to that earlier reporting. Combined with school and county levies, Wilkinsburg property owners already pay a total millage rate of 49.331 mills. The outlet also noted that many Allegheny County municipalities with the ability to set higher earned income tax rates have settled between 1% and 2%, while the City of Pittsburgh's rate stands at 3%.
Residents Largely in the Dark
Public Source interviewed 12 Wilkinsburg residents in late October, and 11 of them said they were unaware the tax increase was even being proposed. Among those who had heard about it, reaction was mixed to critical. Resident Dianne Watson said the increase would not help the community and called it regressive. Kate Luxemburg said she opposes shifting the borough's reliance toward the earned income tax rather than relying on sheriff sales to secure new ownership of abandoned properties, and said investors may grow increasingly sour on Wilkinsburg as a result.
The borough held two public hearings on the proposal, published the ordinance in the New Pittsburgh Courier and posted the proposal on Facebook, according to the reporting. Borough calendar listings separately indicated a public hearing was planned for September 25 and a Finance Committee information session for October 7, though those borough postings are drawn from limited online listings.
The Nonresident Tax and a Quirk of State Law
The proposal's new 1% nonresident tax is expected to add little to borough coffers. Salisbury said the tax could sometimes benefit the borough but would usually yield nothing, and the borough projects only about $50,000 in nonresident tax revenue in 2027 — a very small amount compared with the resident increase. That's because Pennsylvania's Act 32 requires employers to withhold whichever is higher: an employee's total resident earned income tax or the nonresident rate where they work, and gives precedence to a worker's home municipality when the two rates are equal. Under Wilkinsburg's proposed 1% nonresident rate, workers who live in nearby municipalities with higher resident rates of their own would end up owing nothing to Wilkinsburg at all.
Vacant Properties and a Sheriff Sale Slowdown
The debate over the tax increase is unfolding against the backdrop of Wilkinsburg's long struggle with vacant housing. The borough had more than 1,000 abandoned properties producing no tax revenue as of 2023, and roughly 70% of its housing units are renter-occupied compared with 30% owner-occupied. The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office holds monthly auctions to sell tax-delinquent properties, but proceeds have fallen off sharply: the borough collected $82,584 in delinquent sheriff sale proceeds at the end of 2025, then just $19,199 the following year, a 77% drop, according to the borough's proposed 2027 budget. The borough has budgeted $100,000 in delinquent tax revenue for 2027. Salisbury noted that the borough does not control the Wilkinsburg Land Bank, which is charged with returning vacant properties to new ownership.
Salary Increases Tied to Home Rule
The tax debate comes as officials' own compensation is set to rise under the home rule charter. The mayor's salary will increase from $17,500 in 2026 to $25,000 in 2027, a $7,500 jump, and is set to keep rising by $7,500 a year until it reaches $40,000. Council members' salaries will climb from $6,000 to $8,000 next year, a 33% increase, and will rise by $2,000 annually until reaching $10,000. Pennsylvania's constitution otherwise caps annual compensation at $5,000 for borough mayors and $3,300 for councilors, limits the home rule charter allows Wilkinsburg to exceed. By comparison, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Penn Hills pay their part-time elected officials between $3,000 and $5,000. Mayor Dontae Comans attributed the raises to expanded responsibilities under home rule, describing his position as more of a CEO role.
Not the Only Municipality Raising Rates
Wilkinsburg isn't alone in reaching for the earned income tax lever. Mt. Lebanon proposed a 0.2% increase in October to address a $2.3 million stormwater funding gap, and Bethel Park raised its rate by 0.25% at the start of 2026 to cover maintenance and infrastructure costs. Further east, Bristol Township officials have been exploring a municipal earned income tax increase for 2027, according to LevittownNow.com, which reported that roughly 70% of township residents would see no change in their overall tax burden and that officials are studying a property tax millage reduction to offset any increase. Tracey Evans said Pennsylvania municipalities and school districts across the state face similarly difficult fiscal choices and need a statewide solution.
If approved Wednesday, Wilkinsburg's new tax rate would take effect by the second quarter of 2027. The borough's roughly 14,027 residents will learn this week whether council moves forward with the increase or looks for another way to close the gap.
