Pittsburgh mayor to push for tuition tax vote

[Auburn85 434]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idX-ahRLU0pMULRtdHdJhN892U2wD9CJRJI01

PITTSBURGH — The mayor of Pittsburgh will push for a first-of-its-kind tax on student tuition this week after a special meeting with the city's universities failed to resolve the dispute over the levy.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl met Monday with college officials to discuss other ways to remedy the city's pension woes. But the meeting made little progress.

Ravenstahl had set a Monday deadline for universities and other tax-exempt nonprofits to agree to pay $5 million annually to the city.

Without an agreement, Ravenstahl will ask City Council to vote on the 1 percent tuition tax, which would be the first of its kind in the nation. The schools say they are willing to negotiate if the tax is taken off the table.

A vote could come Wednesday.

[quietfan 233]

I didn't know cities/local gov'ts had the right to redefine/tax non-profit groups if they had state/federal exemption...but apparently so if Pittsburgh is trying it.

Also, legally, can they discriminate against colleges/tuition alone without going after churches, charities and other non-profits? What about K-12 private schools? Or church schools with religious standing? (Of course, the whole issue of tax-exempt status for religious institutions is a political/philosophical question mark under the 1st Amendment anyway, IMHO.) And for state schools: Can a city tax a state entity? I suspect the city of Pittsburgh will face a lot of court battles if they pursue this.

In any case, bad idea. Look for the colleges to simply pass the cost on to the student.

[autigeremt 6,970]

Very bad idea! Students already provide tax base through local sales taxes.