Housing Opportunity Fund

A legal aid supervising attorney said eliminating the Housing Opportunity Fund while keeping its 1% transfer tax would be a 'bait and switch,' and urged Council to fund prevention over enforcement.

An Iroquois Confederacy council member detailed the funds' results — nearly 1,500 affordable homes, 2,098 households stabilized — and called the budget 'a moral document,' asking Council to reject it.

Lawrenceville Together's co-director said the fund has exceeded expectations — supporting roughly 1,000 households a year versus a projected 680 — and that its transfer tax brings in far more than it spends.

The Bloomfield-Garfield activist suggested shifting HOF construction dollars into the capital budget to preserve them, while keeping services in the operating budget.

A Pittsburgh United organizer from Brighton Heights supported the funds and criticized an officer for initially blocking a disabled resident from the budget address.

A PA United organizer said the O'Connor administration has not yet engaged Black communities, and criticized the officer's treatment of an elder resident.

A District 3 resident contrasted the $40 million downtown TRID with the roughly half-as much sought for HOF and Stop the Violence, calling the budget a statement about the city's values.

A Garfield mutual-aid volunteer said cutting the HOF would worsen homelessness, and defended the Stop the Violence Fund's record in Black communities.

A longtime Lawrenceville resident credited HOF with keeping her neighborhood economically mixed and urged funding proven programs over a downtown-centric plan.

A community connector said the two fears she hears door-to-door — losing an apartment and losing a child to violence — are exactly what this budget defunds.

A retired City Planning and Pittsburgh Foundation housing professional called the fund's track record impressive and said this is not the time to stop the $10 million annual funding.

The URA executive director warned the proposed 2027 budget would leave about $7.8 million less for the URA and urged maintaining flexible funding levels to preserve affordable housing investments.

The URA's Chief Housing Officer presented detailed figures: $91.9 million received since 2018, 1,577 units created or preserved, and a draft 2027 allocation of $14.88 million.

The advisory board chair, the only founding member still serving, emotionally challenged council to 'revisit how you can justify not committing funds to the HOF,' citing rising housing instability and senior poverty.

Urged council to protect the Housing Opportunity Fund and Stop the Violence Fund from budget cuts.

Spoke in support of preserving the Housing Opportunity Fund for Oakland residents.

Urged council not to dismantle the Housing Opportunity Fund while keeping its dedicated tax revenue.

Urged preservation of housing and violence prevention funds to prevent homelessness.

Urged council to reject proposed cuts to the HOF and Stop the Violence Trust Fund.