Pittsburgh spent more money than it collected in 2025 for many reasons, including lower-than-expected revenue from payroll preparation taxes and interest earnings, and the state high court striking down the city’s “jock tax.” It didn’t help, though, that the city spent $3 million more than it budgeted for payroll.
The city’s biggest cost center is compensation for its more than 3,000 employees. And city employees earned a whopping $71 million in overtime in 2025, according to pay records obtained by Pittsburgh’s Public Source. That includes payment for so-called secondary employment — moonlighting done by public safety employees, coordinated by the city but paid by entities like pro sports teams, concerts and smaller organizations that stage events.
- View the entire dataset of 2025 city employee pay here.
The city controller told Public Source that even without the secondary pay by private entities, city-funded overtime ran $20 million over budget. Last year was the second in a row in which extra compensation reached that historically high level.
“We can’t make good fiscal decisions if we’re not being realistic about things we know we will have to pay for,” said Controller Rachael Heisler, who repeatedly criticized former Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration for underestimating the amount of overtime in the budget…