Universities reluctant to meet mayor’s newest deadline in tuition tax battle

The tuition tax could die next week if Pittsburgh’s universities and other nonprofits agree by… The tuition tax could die next week if Pittsburgh’s universities and other nonprofits agree by Monday to give millions to the city.

But Pitt officials say they’re reluctant to meet the mayor’s deadline.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl told the leaders of the city’s nonprofits, which include local universities such as Pitt and organizations such as West Penn and Highmark, that if they collectively agree by Monday to give the city $5 million a year, he’ll take the Fair Share Tax off the table. The Fair Share Tax would require students to pay the equivalent of 1 percent of their tuition to the city each year. For students in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences, that’s about $135.

Joanna Doven, Ravenstahl’s press secretary, said there’s a little bit of flexibility to Ravenstahl’s deadline.

“Certainly, if the universities call us on Monday and say, ‘Give us until Tuesday,’ we’ll say, ‘Yes.’ But either way, Wednesday there’s going to be a vote on the Fair Share Tax,” Doven said.

Currently, more City Council members favor the tax than oppose it.

Chancellor Mark Nordenberg said in a statement that Pitt has made donations to the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, a group of local organizations who give donations to the city, and that he “is prepared to support future funds if the tuition tax proposal is withdrawn.”

“However, the deadline that has been unilaterally imposed is unrealistic, and . . .voluntary contributions cannot be considered while that coercive proposal is being advanced,” he said.

The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education, an organization that represents local universities, including Pitt, sent a letter to Ravenstahl saying its members “will not accept your demands,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Doven said that if the nonprofits give Ravenstahl the $5 million he’s requested, he’d ask them to help him lobby in Harrisburg to find ways to get the additional $10 million needed to cover the city’s budget. Doven said the mayor would like to increase the city’s tax on emergency and municipal services from $52 per year to $144 per year, but that would require the approval of state legislators.

Nordenberg also hinted that the city might need the state’s help.

“The pension problem is not limited to Pittsburgh, and it requires a systemic state-wide solution,” he said.