City, three nonprofits negotiate end to Fair Share Tax

By John Manganaro / Staff Writer

published: Mon, 21 Dec, 2009

After weeks of protest from students and university officials, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl canceled his bid for the controversial "fair share" tax, and will instead create a "New Pittsburgh Coalition" to solve the city's pension problems.

Ravenstahl agreed to take the tax off the table after Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University and nonprofit Highmark agreed to increase their annual donations to the city. City Council members and university spokespeople declined to reveal exactly how much the donations would increase.

Robert Hill, Pitt's vice chancellor of public affairs, did not say how much money Pitt will give to the city, noting that the specifics of the agreement "will be worked out."

“We will participate in the civic collaborative to create long-term solutions,” he said in an e-mail. “Tuition will not be targeted to support the University's move to help the city solve its financial challenge.”

Ravenstahl, flanked by local university and nonprofit leaders, including Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, outlined a few aspects of the decision during a press conference held in the City-County Building, Downtown, Monday morning.

Ravenstahl said he and City Council will table the Fair Share Tax and will instead work to instate a "new Pittsburgh collaborative formed to address the budget woes of the city."

"This is a leap of faith for all of us," Ravenstahl said of his decision to scrap the tax, which was projected to close a $15 million per year hole in the city's budget. "The future of our city and our citizens is riding on it."

"With only a week left in the year, we have no further intention of persuing this tax," Ravenstahl told reporters from KDKA during an interview following the press conference. "We've made a commitment to [Chancellor Norderberg] and university presidents. At this point, tabling the tax will take it out of the discussion."

Hill said student activism played a major role in defeating what he called “the un-fair share tax.”

“Students played an enormous role in fighting this tax,” he said. “The student activism in this anti-tax campaign is yet another example of the way students have helped the city's progress.”