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Financial Management
This chapter centers on fiscal policies, financial reports, pension investments, and other finance matters related to budgeting, municipal services, planning and municipal management and operations.
Vision
Mt. Lebanon plans, budgets, raises revenue, borrows, invests and spends prudently to ensure financial sustainability during periods of economic strength or downturns. It operates with transparency as it contends with current and anticipated community needs and priorities.
Strategies
The strategies listed here will help to ensure prudent use of public funds while simultaneously planning for whatever the future may hold.
Continue providing high-quality public services with greater efficiencies and prioritized upgrades.
Action Steps
a. While the municipality is responsible to deliver a balanced budget, not every individual service has to break even or net revenue. STATUS: ONGOING
b. Maintain a publicly visible list of grant opportunities, organized by deadline. Status: Not Started
Sustain and continue to pursue creative partnerships with other municipalities and organizations to efficiently serve municipal goals.
Action Steps
a. Seek opportunities in which the municipality can contribute leadership, capacity, expertise and/or access to equipment in support of collaborative initiatives that result in economies of scale or other shared advantages.
Status: Ongoing
b. Seek opportunities to collaborate with Mt. Lebanon School District or other municipalities on shared purchasing and/or shared contractual services.
Status: Ongoing
c. Continue making a regional impact through participation in the Congress of Neighboring Communities and its policy work.
Status: Ongoing
Evaluate waste management options within the horizon of the current five-year contract to identify the desired outcomes of the next contract.
Action Steps
a. Determine whether in-house curbside solid waste/ recycling collection is a potentially viable option. This includes weighing considerations such as up-front cost and timeline of fleet vehicle acquisition, storage and staging space, automated vs. manual mechanisms, location and cost of access to landfill and transfer stations, personnel, insurance and other ongoing costs. It also should consider the viability of services such as yard waste, food waste, separated recyclables, household hazardous waste and other special collections.
Status: Not Started
b. Factor in incentives to reduce household waste reduction and promote recycling. This could include unit-based pricing or pricing based on collection bin size vs. a flat fee.
Status: Not Started
Consider service-level expansions that provide additional municipal fee-based services or programs that incentivize private behaviors that benefit the public good.
Action Steps
a. Consider expanding the scale or scope of municipal service provision through the creation of special fee-based programs. .
Status: Started
b. Consider community surveys or questionnaires as a means of gauging the value to residents of potential new municipal services.
Status: Not Started
Plan for planning.
Planning is the process of determining what should change or not change to create desired outcomes. This involves identifying strengths and weaknesses, learning what residents want to see happen, recognizing how social/political/economic/demographic forces are affecting things, applying professional expertise, and determining how best to bring resources to bear.
Municipalities create plans of different types to solve problems, identify priorities and figure out how to proceed. What follows is a recommended schedule of upcoming planning efforts for the municipality to undertake on its own or with partners in the next 10 years. Additional needs or opportunities may arise.
Action Step
a. 2024 – Active Transportation Plan
Status: Started
b. 2024 – South Garage Feasibility Study
Status: Started
c. 2025 – Zoning Ordinance Update
Status: Not Started
d. 2025 – Sustainable Trail Development & Maintenance Plan
Status: Not Started
e. 2026 – RFP for South Garage P3
Status: Not Started
f. 2027 – Uptown Strategic Plan
Status: Not Started
g. 2028 – Climate Action Plan
Status: Not Started
h. 2029 – Parks & Rec Master Plan
Status: Not Started
i. 2032 – Comprehensive Plan Update
Status: Not Started
Employ appropriate financial planning and management tools.
Action Steps
a. Utilize grant funding where possible to offset the cost to taxpayers of municipal projects and initiatives.
Status: Ongoing
b. Maintain debt ratio below 10% of general fund expenditures (or $1,000 per capita).
Status: Ongoing
c. Maintain fund balance ratio between 10% and 15% annually.
Status: Ongoing
d. Incorporate “total cost of ownership” into operating and capital spending decisions.
Status: Not Started
e. Monitor pension investments to ensure that plans are growing and returning at rates that match the projected long-term actuarial discount rates.
Status: Ongoing
f. Periodically review municipal salary and wage structure to ensure that positions are compensated at market values for the job functions associated with the role.
Status: Not Started
Ensure that financial management and planning recognizes commitments of the 2022 Commission resolution “Adopting mobilizing efforts to promote a resilient and sustainable community.”
Action Steps
a. Determine a formula and method for calculating the total cost of carbon and incorporating this into financial projections. Begin using carbon pricing in future municipal budgets.
Status: Not Started
b. Establish base guidelines for energy efficiency upgrades for municipal facilities.
Status: Not Started
c. Implement changes to improve fleet fuel efficiency to align with broader climate mitigation efforts.
Status: Started
d. Continue to procure 100% renewable energy.
Status: Ongoing
e. As noted elsewhere in the plan, operationalize a commitment to adopting a Complete Streets Policy.
Status: Started
