Pitt to oppose proposed city tax on students

Pitt officials plan to oppose the city’s efforts to tax students more than $100 a… Pitt officials plan to oppose the city’s efforts to tax students more than $100 a year.

University administrators said in a statement that Pitt will “oppose any effort that would directly or indirectly alter its tax-exempt status,” though they did not say how they would oppose it.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl proposed in his 2010 budget, introduced last month, to tax students and hospitals to help the city fulfill its funding requirements for the Act 47 Recovery Plan, which is meant to help cities that are struggling financially to improve their credit ratings, among other things.

The hospital fee would amount to roughly one-tenth of 1 percent of every hospital bill. Each student would pay more than $100 a year for the student fee. If the City Council passes them, the fees could go into effect by next fall.

Pitt officials met with some city council members and their staff Friday to make the University’s case against the proposed fee. Pitt spokesman John Fedele issued a statement following the meeting listing its financial contributions to the community, saying, “We do believe we are paying our fair share for city operations.”

The University contributes through Pitt’s police force, the taxes on its non-educational properties and its contributions to the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, a tax-exempt group of nonprofit organizations, including Pitt.

City Councilwoman Theresa Smith said the city wanted to avoid charging hospitals and students more money and is “looking at these fees as a last option.”

Contributions to the city’s Public Service Fund shrank from more than 100 to 38 this year, Smith said.

The city claims that the student and hosptial fee would help raise an estimated $15 million the city needs to increase its pension fund by $10 million a year under the recovery plan.

Smith said the council is calling on Pitt and the other universities in Pittsburgh to help lobby in Harrisburg for assistance.

Details on what the fee might entail, who might be exempt and how it would be administered still need to be articulated.

One possible form of the fee would be a “bed fee” for students who reside in campus housing, said Smith.