Pittsburgh City Council appears ready to raise property taxes for the first time in 12 years, with one member calling for an increase of 30%.

Councilmembers say there's no way to avoid it, as the city's fleet is on its last legs, there's runaway overtime and Downtown building assessments and tax revenues have plummeted. Councilwoman Barb Warwick says a 30% real estate tax increase is needed to plug a $30 million hole in the city budget, a measure she concedes would be wildly unpopular.

"Nobody wants to do this," Warwick said. "Certainly no elected official wants to do this, but our job at city council is to be the fiscal stewards of the city."

"It sounds like a big number, but at the end of the day, for the average Pittsburgher, you're looking at an increase of about $20 a month," Wa

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