Call to Action: Allegheny County Funding

Jeremiah’s Place needs your help! Allegheny County Council must pass a budget by December 6^th. The County hasn’t increased its property tax rate for over a decade – and now it has a structural deficit in its operating budget. There’s been no change in the County property tax rate since 2011, even though operating costs have increased. County Executive Innamorato has proposed to save our county services by increasing the property tax rate by 2.2 mills in 2025. This rate change will ensure the County can continue delivering critical services that residents depend on while impacting the median Allegheny County home by just $15 per month (for owner-occupied residences). DHS provides a portion of Jeremiah’s Place’s annual budget and a funding loss would impact our ability to serve our children and families.

Call to Action:

Call: The main phone for ALL Councilmembers is 412-350-6490. Please use this document to identify your personal Council Person if necessary. It is also worth calling District 10, where Jeremiah’s Place is located.

Call Script:

Hello, my name is (Name), and I am a (community member, service provider, other organization member) in (District number). I’m calling to urge Council Member XXXX to support the 2.2 millage tax increase proposed by County Executive Innamorato, which is necessary to fund the Department of Human Services fully. Please pass this message on to the Council Member.

Email: Similar to the phone call, please send this email to your personal Council Person, as well as District 10’s DeWitt Walton, and the two members at large (Samuel DeMarco and Bethany Hallam).

Email Script:

Dear [County Council member title and name]:

I’m writing as a community member and supporter of Jeremiah’s Place to urge your support for the 2.2 millage tax increase proposed by County Executive Innamorato, which is necessary to fund the Allegheny County Budget. As an organization dedicated to providing emergency childcare for families in crisis, Jeremiah’s Place is deeply concerned about the potential impact of any County Budget reductions on the availability of human services for people in Allegheny County. In 2023, Jeremiah’s Place cared for 356 unique children from 305 families from 85 zip codes across Southwestern Pennsylvania. This equated to over 13,000 hours of emergency childcare.

As the County now faces a structural deficit in its operating budget, the anticipated deficit is so large that the County could be forced to cut up to $136.7M from the human services budget in 2025.

Allegheny County is our region’s single largest funder of human services; its budget provides critical resources for our County’s most vulnerable residents, our human services provider network, and our human services workforce. Importantly, through the Department of Human Services, the Allegheny County Budget supports hundreds of organizations to deliver services like Jeremiah’s Place’s emergency childcare. DHS provides a significant portion of Jeremiah’s Place’s annual budget. A funding loss would greatly impact our ability to serve our families and children.
I encourage you to approve the 2.2 millage tax increase so that thousands of families continue to benefit from the human services supported by DHS.

Thank you,

Who to Contact