City Council Holds Tuition Tax Bill

Pittsburgh City Council Voted today to hold for one week the bill creating a 1% tuition tax with the hope that a meeting with the universities later this week will produce an agreement. The 7-2 vote came after two hours of debate. City councilman Jim Motznik says the threat of the tax is why the universities are willing to talk. But Council members Bill Peduto and Doug Shields say the universities will not negotiate until the tax is taken off the table completely. Peduto says if the tax remains in play the non-profits, that had planed to give $1.6 million to the city next year, might pull that offer from the table as well. Peduto and council president Doug Shields voted against the hold but the other 7 members voted for the one-week hold. Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education President Mary Hines says the council will meet with the city Friday but it will not be a negotiation. There is ongoing debate over the legality of the tax. Motznik says he has the five votes he needs to get the tax on the books and then the two sides will have to fight it out in court. He is confident that the city will win. Hines, who is also the president of Carlow University, is equally positive the schools will win. She says holding the bill for a week, as a way to put pressure on the schools, is a waste of time. However, she says if the hold is to give the council members a chance to review testimony given over the last week and reconsider its position then the deal is worthwhile. Doug Shields says holding a gun to the universities for payment will result in a short term solution at best and he warns that the university’s have a much bigger gun then the council does.