I received an email from the President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary today informing the Seminary community about the current attempt by the mayor to blackmail the schools into paying the city $5 million dollars plus trying to get them to help them get $10 million more. With the ultimatum to promise $5 million or else within three days, all ten schools told the Mayor to take a hike.
Pittsburgh
Seminary Community,
In the spirit of keeping the campus community fully informed on the tuition tax issue, I write to provide you with some facts related to recent
public comments on the topic.
Yesterday Mayor Ravenstahl threatened to go forward with his unprecedented plan to tax our students if area universities do not
agree—within three days–to his demand for an annual payment of $5 million. Of course, a tax on the universities of this sort is just another form
of tax on our students. Pittsburgh area university presidents believe that both kinds of taxes are illegal. They are certainly both bad for Pittsburgh Seminary and for Pittsburgh.
The number of $5 million is not related to anything having to do with Pittsburgh universities. Like the proposed 1% tax on our students, it is not related to any city services provided to us or to our students. Instead, it is an amount needed to help with an underfunded pension plan.
In his statements to the media, the mayor described the $5 million as a “compromise” amount, saying that Pittsburgh nonprofits had earlier agreed to commit $6 million to the city each year. No such agreement ever existed. Temporary, large-scale assistance to the city by the nonprofit sector was undertaken through the establishment of a Public Service Fund in 2005. Section 3 of the agreement that established the Fund is very clear about the limited time frame of the 2005-2007 commitment made by the nonprofit sector. It states, “The contributions to the fund are not
precedential and do not indicate any intention on the part of the contributors to provide support for the city after the term of this agreement. The City shall not use the fact that the contributing charitable organizations have voluntarily determined to support the City in its time of financial crisis as evidence that contributing charitable organizations can or should support the city under other circumstances or as a basis to argue for taxation of or to assess contributing organizations during or after the term of this Agreement.”
Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education (PCHE) has recently had numerous productive discussions with members of City Council regarding this issue. Several Council members see merit in developing a collaborative group to address the city’s financial problems, involving representatives from the government, nonprofit and corporate sectors. But Mayor Ravenstahl has been unwilling to engage in dialogue seeking alternative solutions to taxing students or universities. Therefore, the PCHE institutions have unanimously rejected his ultimatum.
Please be assured that Pittsburgh Seminary, along with our fellow PCHE institutions, will remain strong advocates for Pittsburgh, and will continue in our role as key drivers of the re-emerging vitality of this great city. And we will be vigorous in protecting our students. Thank you for the important role you play and the many contributions you make to our Seminary and the city that has been our home for 215 years.
Please note also below a link to a video for YouTube put together by students at Chatham
University. You will find it interesting.
http://animoto.com/play/90mBzeRetGiDSjW9O00TUQ
Thanks for your encouragement and support.
William J. Carl III
President
