City Seeks Sustainable Funding Formula

Taxes confuse everybody, so it seems a little dizzying to try and examine the conversation between the City of Pittsburgh and local non-profits. As it currently stands, most land owned by non-profits, including everything from local AmeriCorps programs, to UPMC, do not pay any property tax (roughly 50% of Allegheny County land is exempt from property taxes). These non-profits are also exempt from some local payroll preparation taxes.

However, local non-profits have sought to give back financially to the City; non-profits may offer a lump sum to the City and a large amount of money is given to the City voluntarily through the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, a collection of various non-profits in Pittsburgh. The largest contributor to this fund is UPMC.

Generally, the City Council and the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund meet every 2 or 3 years to discuss how much the Fund might be able to provide to the City; although no amount is ever promised, local non-profits are expected to contribute roughly $3.2 million a year for the next five years. Additionally, the University of Pittsburgh payed over $5 million dollars in various fees and taxes last year; of course, this does not include all of the local revenue generated by students who come to study at the University.

The uncertainty of the amount that the City will receive from non-profits every year has prompted some local leaders to call for a task force that would find ways to generate more revenue from non-profits and to make it

more consistent, and "institutionalize" the method of generating revenue. This would be the purpose of the task force, as well as potentially lobbying for the elimination of the payroll preparation tax exemption.

This can be a touchy subject for students; on the one hand, many of us enjoy the services provided to us by the City, which has, like many cities across the US, found itself facing budget problems. On the other hand, with dwindling support from the State, it is difficult to imagine that Pitt paying more money to the City would have no effect on student tuition and fees. Moving forward, students should pay close attention to the discussions between the City and the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/pittsburgh-urged-to-examine-nonprofit-donations-654802/