PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Homeowners flooded Allegheny County Council offices with calls on Wednesday, complaining about a plan for a major property tax hike. Some councilmembers say they just can’t support an increase as large as the county executive wants.

Since the budget announcement Tuesday, county councilmembers say they have gotten an earful from their constituents and say they’ve heard enough: the 46% property tax increase is dead on arrival.

Citing flat revenues, an end to federal COVID aid and rising costs, Innamorato dropped a bomb.

“So, today we are asking for a 2.2 mill increase,” she said. 

Since then, councilmembers have heard howls from their constituents about an unprecedented 46 percent property tax increase.  

“This is just way outside the bounds of what we could potentially take back to the taxpayers,” said Republican Sam DeMarco. 

Counting heads, Council President Pat Catena says there are already enough votes to kill the increase.

“I know Councilmember Futules is against it, I know Councilman Palmosina is against it,” Catena said. 

“We have to go back to the drawing board and see where cuts can be made. It’s that simple,” he added. 

Innamorato said the hike is needed to meet costs and stave off disaster. The surplus is being deleted and costs are rising, especially for health care at the Kane hospitals and the county jail, where total costs have risen more than $20 million.

“And if we keep on the pace we’re on now, we could completely deplete our reserves in two years, which would be catastrophic for our bond rating and leave us in a precarious situation in the case of an emergency,” Innamorato said. 

But councilmembers say she still wants to fulfill a progressive agenda with spending on things like child care, rental assistance, climate change initiatives and housing for those experiencing homelessness. They want her to sharpen her pencil to reduce some of those costs, noting that one of her first actions in office was to raise the wages of county employees to a minimum of $18 an hour.

“Last night we saw where that money is going to come from. She intends to take it from the taxpayers,” DeMarco said. 

Controller Corey O’Connor says the administration needs to do more to produce other revenue by fostering economic development.

“The frustrating part for all of us should be is there’s no vision for growth, development, bringing in jobs. Because all of that, you’re not going to tax your way out of decline,” O’Connor said. 

Over the next few weeks, councilmembers say they’ll be going over this budget with a fine-tooth comb, making all the necessary cuts to bring this tax increase down to size.  

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the Davante Adams sweepstakes, but what will it take to land Las Vegas’ star wide receiver while the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints remain in the ‘driver’s seat’ for him?

NFL insider Dan Graziano floated an idea that could see George Pickens moved amid the drama in Pittsburgh. If the Raiders felt like they could deal with Pickens, Pickens for Adams would likely be the best offer on the table.

“Outside observers,’ have suggested the Pittsburgh Steelers trade George Pickens to the Raiders for Adams,” Graziano said in a detailed report about Adams.

Graziano believes that the Steelers are real contenders for Adams and want to shut the door on their wide receiver need once and for all.

The Steelers will not only have to beat out the Jets and Saints for Adams’ services, but they must prove to Adams that they are a more viable spot than both places. Since the Raiders want to move Adams quickly and would like a second-round pick for him, the Saints and Jets are where their focus is, too, since any team getting Adams for just half a season would not trade a second-round pick for him.

Adams’ contract has no guaranteed money left on it. Still, it does have over $35 million in cap hits over the next two seasons, so any team acquiring the superstar wide receiver would want to rework that contract to keep Adams in the fold for multiple seasons.

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Game Notes

Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass, Kevin Hayes and Rutger McGroarty, Matt Grzelcyk, and Joel Blomqvist are looking to make their Penguins debuts tonight. Blomqvist and McGroarty are looking to make their NHL debuts.

Pittsburgh is 30-16-10 all-time in home openers (first home game of the season), including a 7-3-1 mark in its last 10 games.

Head Coach Mike Sullivan (2015-Present) begins his 10th season behind the bench in Pittsburgh. The only NHL coach that has a longer tenure with their team is Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper, whose first season with the Lightning came in 2012-13.

In 30 regular-season games against them, forward Anthony Beauvillier has more goals (13), assists (12), and points (25) against the Rangers than any other team in his career.

The Penguins own an overall record of 387-89-47 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.

Throughout Pittsburgh sports history, only Crosby and the Pirates’ Willie Stargell have spent two decades with a team in this city. When the puck drops tonight, Crosby will become just the 11th player in NHL history to spend their entire career with one team spanning a minimum of 20 seasons joining Alex Delvecchio (24), Stan Mikita (22), Steve Yzerman (22), Dit Clapper (20), Jean Beliveau (20), Patrik Elias (20), Henri Richard (20), Ken Daneyko (20) and Nicklas Lidstrom (20). Alex Ovechkin, who is also entering his 20th season with Washington, will be the 12th player in NHL history to accomplish this feat Saturday night when the Capitals take on New Jersey.

Crosby enters the season ranked seventh among all active skaters in regular-season games played (1,272), but is first in points (1,596) and assists (1,004) and second in goals (592). His 1,596 points are 10th most in NHL history. The 2024-25 season marks the 18th season that Crosby has been captain of the Penguins, making him the longest-tenured active captain in the NHL and the second-longest in NHL history.

Evgeni Malkin enters tonight’s game just two goals away from becoming the 48th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals. When he reaches that milestone, Malkin will join teammate Sidney Crosby (592), as well as Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (853) and Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos (555) as the only active players with 500-plus goals. Malkin, who has the third-most goals in Penguins history with 498 in 1,145 games, will be the 20th player in NHL history to score 500 goals with one team.

Pittsburgh (Mario Lemieux & Crosby) is set to become the second team in NHL history with three 500-goal scorers, joining the Montreal Canadiens (Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau & Maurice Richard).

Malkin is looking to join Ovechkin as the only Russian-born players in NHL history to reach the 500-goal plateau.

In addition to being two goals shy of 500, Evgeni Malkin also is two assists away from 800, and four points away from 1,300.

When Malkin notches his next two assists, he will become the 34th player in NHL history to reach the 800-assist plateau. He’s looking to join Sidney Crosby (1,004) and Patrick Kane (813) as the only active players with 800 assists. He will also become the first Russian-born player in NHL history to reach this milestone.

Malkin is four points away from becoming the 37th player in NHL history to reach 1,300 points, and would tie Hall-of-Famer Jarome Iginla for the 36th most points league history. Only Alex Ovechkin (1,550) has more points than Malkin among Russian-born players.

Kris Letang enters his 19th season tonight, all of which have come with the Penguins. When the puck drops, Letang will become one of just three defensemen in NHL history to play their entire career with one team spanning at least 19 seasons. The Pittsburgh blueliner has accumulated 742 points (166G-576A) in 1,087 games. With his next point, he will tie Mathieu Schneider for 24th place on the NHL’s all-time points list among defensemen.

Erik Karlsson enters his second campaign with Pittsburgh after coming off of a 56 point (11G-45A) campaign in 2023.24. Karlsson’s 56 points last season were the fourth-most points among defensemen in their first season with the Penguins.

Rutger McGroarty and Joel Blomqvist both find themselves on Pittsburgh’s opening night roster and are looking to make their NHL debuts.

McGroarty, who was drafted by the Jets in the first round (14th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, has spent the past two seasons with the University of Michigan (NCAA). This past season, the forward ranked second on Michigan with a NCAA career-high 52 points (16G-36A) in 36 games, and his plus-17 led (tied) the club. McGroarty represented Team USA as the captain at the 2024 World Junior Championship, tallying nine points (5G-4A) in seven games.

If McGroarty is in the lineup tonight, he will be the ninth-youngest player in the Sidney Crosby era (since 2005.06) to make their NHL debut with Pittsburgh.

The 22-year-old Blomqvist recently completed his first full season in North America with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 2024 AHL All-Star went 25-12-6 with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. For his efforts, he was also named to the 2024 AHL All-Rookie Team.

Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game two even-strength goals shy of tying Luc Robitaille for the 13th-most even- strength goals in NHL history.

Crosby has historically been successful against the New York Rangers. In 85 career games versus the Rangers, Crosby has registered 40 goals, 68 assists and 108 points. Crosby’s points-per-game average (1.27) against the Rangers is 10th in NHL history (min. 25 GP), and no active player has more points versus New York than him.

Crosby is currently the only active player in the NHL with 100-plus points against at least three franchises (New York Islanders, 134; Philadelphia, 129; NY Rangers, 108).