University Times

This month, a new coalition of an unspecified number of city non-profit institutions signed a preliminary three-year agreement with Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy that calls for the participants to contribute money voluntarily to the city’s financially strapped coffers.

Pitt spokesperson Robert Hill confirmed this week that the University is a member of the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, which signed the preliminary agreement with the mayor’s office Aug. 5.

The fund would be administered through The Pittsburgh Foundation, which is representing universities, hospitals, foundations and other tax-exempt organizations in the city.

Hill declined to specify how much money Pitt would expect to contribute through the service fund, if the agreement garners the necessary approval of City Council.

The agreement also would cancel a long-standing arrangement the University and certain other local non-profits have in place to pay the city an annual fee in lieu of taxes, Hill confirmed.

As a trade-off for its property tax-exempt status, Pitt has made payments to the city voluntarily for years for city services such as fire protection, street cleaning and road building.

“For now, that agreement is still in place,” Hill said. He added that he did not know the amount Pitt pays currently under the in-lieu-of-taxes agreement.

(Two years ago, the University Times reported that Pitt was paying $85,000 annually to the city in lieu of taxes. See University Times May 29, 2003.)

—Peter Hart