In November, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey proposed a 2025 budget that didn’t just hold the line on 2024’s spending, but it also reeled it in by 3%.

In December, Pittsburgh City Council passed that budget with few changes. They did so despite concerns over aspects that felt unrealistic. Specifically, there were questions about overtime for police and other safety and public works employees.

“We can’t really cut in public safety,” Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, said at the time.

That’s true.

Police have to show up when they are called. You can’t tell someone reporting gunshots that everyone has gone home for the day and a car will roll out first thing in the morning.

The fire department has to come when a fire happens. Public works crews need to plow when it snows. Emergencies are unforgiving when it comes to schedules.

Yet Gainey proposed, and city council accepted, cutting back on the overtime. Where the city spent $19.5 million in police overtime previously, it budgeted just $15 million for 2025. That’s a cut of almost 25%.

So how is it working in practice? The numbers say concerns were warranted.

In the first quarter, the city already is blowing past projections. Police overtime is at $5.5 million of the $15 million budgeted. Fire overtime is at $5.7 million of its $16.5 million. Emergency medical services is proportionally the worst with $2.4 million already spent of a planned $3.6 million. Public works has spent $1.5 million of its $2.3 million.

Controller Rachael Heisler is projecting the city will go $15 million over budget in overtime in 2025. With those four overtime budget lines coming in at $37.4 million, that means overshooting the numbers by 40%.

There is little doubt that in an election year — especially a hotly contested mayoral election year like this one — blame will be laid at the feet of the mayor.

Gainey certainly has a lot to answer for. But so do council members.

Council members could have insisted on a budget that made more allowance for incredibly predictable problems.

In recent years, Pittsburgh has had to handle a train derailment, a mass shooting, a bus falling into a street, upticks in gun violence, widespread protests and, oh yes, a bridge collapsing into a gorge during the morning commute.

There is enough blame to go around. There is certainly no shortage of finger-pointing. What is needed are more answers about how to prevent this in the future.