Officials disclose little about tuition tax negotiation details

The end of the tuition tax signaled the beginning of closed-door negotiations about which… The end of the tuition tax signaled the beginning of closed-door negotiations about which government and university officials will divulge few details.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced four days before Christmas that he would drop his proposal to tax 1 percent of tuition because Pitt, Carnegie Mellon and nonprofit insurance company Highmark agreed to increase their donations to the city.

Representatives from those groups and from city government offices initially declined to say how much their donations would increase, saying they were still working out the specifics of the deal.

Almost three weeks later, they’re remaining mum, revealing neither how much the groups will donate nor why only two of the city’s 10 colleges and art institutes will increase their donations.

Representatives from Ravenstahl’s office didn’t respond to five calls for comment and two e-mails sent during the past week, and representatives from Highmark did not return calls either.

Officials from Pitt and CMU offered a few insights into the deal, but both Pitt spokesman John Fedele and CMU spokesman Ken Walters declined to say how much their institutions will donate.

Fedele referenced an initiative called the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, which operated from 2005 through 2007. As part of the fund, more than 100 nonprofits gave the city a combined $14 million in donations in lieu of paying taxes during that period.

“We are not disclosing the specific amount, however, we do anticipate contributing more than we contributed to the public service fund in 2005, 2006 and 2007,” Fedele said in an e-mail.

Pitt has not disclosed how much it donated to the first Public Service Fund, only saying that it was “a large contributor” in a statement Chancellor Mark Nordenberg made this past November.

Walters attempted to explain the schools’ confidentiality, saying, “It’s like [it was] under the Public Service Fund. They kept the numbers relatively confidential.”

He also said he expects the city to approach other universities as well, and Fedele said he expects that “the other universities, as well as other nonprofits, will provide donations to the city.”

Of Pitt, CMU and Highmark, Walters said, “It’s a non-profit coalition that we’re sort of spearheading.”

Fedele said that the total contributions from Pitt, CMU and Highmark would likely be less than the $15 million needed to cover a hole in the city’s budget. City officials predicted that Ravenstahl’s Fair Share Tax, which many students and university officials opposed, would have brought in $16 million.

City Councilman Bill Peduto, who heads City Council’s Committee on Finance and Law, said neither he nor other Council members know of a binding agreement between Pitt, CMU, Highmark and the city. All they know, he said, is that the universities are “willing to have discussions” about increased donations to the city.

Peduto said he was concerned that the groups haven’t reached a solid decision yet.

“You can’t balance a budget on a press conference,” he said.

The deal followed almost two months of heated discussion, protests and packed Council meetings.

Ravenstahl introduced the tax as a “last resort” after his re-election in November, saying he would consider dropping the tax if someone could find an alternative that would cover the $15 million hole in the budget.

The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education, a group representing 10 local schools, including Pitt, threatened to take the city to court if it passed the Fair Share Tax.