Pittsburgh Starts Legal Battle with UPMC over Nonprofit Status from WESA 
"The Pennsylvania Supreme Court developed a nonprofit test as a result of the case Hospital Utilization Project v. Commonwealth. An organization must act within the following five "HUP" test parameters in order to be considered a purely public charity: ... Ravenstahl said UPMC fails three out of five. He added UPMC's city property and payroll taxes would amount to approximately $20 million."

UPMC, Pittsburgh Stake Positions for Court Fight on Nonprofit Status from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Starting in January, staff at a longtime Pittsburgh law firm, Strassburger Mckenna Gutnick & Gefsky, researched whether UPMC met the "HUP test," a five-point test that the state Supreme Court reemphasized in a landmark ruling last year. The conclusion, firm President E.J. Strassburger wrote in a 13-page letter to city solicitor Daniel D. Regan on March 5: "As we have discussed, waging a legal battle against a behemoth like UPMC will be neither quick nor easy. However, we believe that both challenges are well-justified, because ... UPMC appears to fail the constitutional test for qualifying" as an institution of purely public charity."

Pittsburgh Lawsuit Challenges UPMC's Tax Status from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl likened it to "the David versus the Goliath." The David, in this case, is the cash-strapped City of Pittsburgh, whose coffers are feeling the strain of burgeoning pension obligations and rising health care costs -- the plight of many municipalities across the state. The Goliath that Pittsburgh faces is UPMC, a $10 billion medical enterprise defined by superlatives -- largest health care provider in the region, biggest property owner in Allegheny County."
Here are the legal justifications for the lawsuit.

New Wave of Development in Store for Downtown Pittsburgh from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A Downtown apartment building with a rooftop pool, a spa and a yoga room. A dining and entertainment complex near the Consol Energy Center. And a playhouse that never sleeps.
They are among the projects on the drawing boards or getting ready to start in the heart of the Golden Triangle or its fringes -- some 60 in all worth an estimated $2.2 billion in investment, according to the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership."

Walkabout: West Oakland Aims to Remain Viable for Residents, Too; The Neighborhood Wants to Preserve a Residential Identity While in the Shadows of Pitt and UPMC from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Corner -- the former property of Breachmenders, a housing rehabilitation nonprofit -- was bought by the Friendship Community Presbyterian Church when Breachmenders dissolved in 2009. Barbara Brewton, a member of the church and the West Oakland Community Council, said the church wanted to make sure the building could become a resource: "We weren't sure at the time what we were going to do with it, but we didn't want to let it go." The Corner represents a neighborhood stand, of sorts. In Pittsburgh's big picture of population loss, West Oakland's shrinking numbers are ironic. The neighborhood has been consumed largely by institutions that are cited among icons of the city's comeback."

The Corner in West Oakland.

AmeriCorps Participants Help Local Nonprofit from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington & Greene counties]
"Public Allies Pittsburgh took a group of about 12 participants to the office of the nonprofit Dress For Success on North Main Street, where they sorted and boxed clothes for the organization that matches low-income and underprivileged women with suits tailored to help them gain access into the business world. The young men and women participating are enrolled in a 10-month AmeriCorps program."

LOCAL LEADERSHIP!

Champion Bush: The Urban League Chief Gets White House Attention from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Esther Bush, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, has received awards before, but nothing like the Champion of Change title bestowed on her and nine others at the White House. Ms. Bush was honored Tuesday by President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan for her activism on behalf of education equity."

Pittsburgh Nonprofits begin to Focus on Green from the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
"The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Global Links are by mission already in the green movement. Both nonprofits divert supplies that would otherwise be wasted to people in need. But they have amped up their efforts to reduce waste in-house, and that side mission inspired a recent workshop Downtown for other nonprofits."

Allegheny River Towns Enterprise Zone Receives $350K for Municipal Projects from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Millvale is one of seven member communities of the Allegheny River Towns Enterprise Zone, a community economic development organization that received $350,000 in grants last week. The organization received $200,000 from the Heinz Endowments and $150,000 from the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County. ARTEZ, as it's known, hired Iris Whitworth as the organization's executive director. “It's an unprecedented opportunity for communities to basically create an economic development engine for the local economy of our seven communities,” Whitworth said."

Retired and Senior Volunteer Program Workers Never Too Old to Lend a Hand from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Mr. Divack, 68, of Squirrel Hill, is just one example of how seniors and retirees can find fulfilling work after their careers have ended and the nest is empty. And now, Pittsburgh Cares, which matches volunteers with nonprofit organizations, is making it easier for seniors to help their communities by restarting the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, part of the federally funded SeniorCorps program."

Retired volunteer John Cokley passes collected trash to Joseph Divack of Allegheny CleanWays as RSVP volunteers pick up litter above Steuben Street in the West End section of Pittsburgh.

Youthful Lions Club Forms at Pitt from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
"As a boy, Matt Bohince volunteered with the youth Leo Club sponsored by the Trafford Lions Club and helped in community projects, such as picking up litter and helping senior citizens. As a student at the University of Pittsburgh he wanted to continue making a difference in his community, so Mr. Bohince, 20, formed his own club. Sunday, the University of Pittsburgh Lions Club celebrated its chartering with a ceremony in the Pitt Student Union attended by 70. In addition, 23 of the new club's 35 members were installed."

Seven Myths About Arts Funding (Bill O'Driscoll) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"Think ticket price covers production cost? Or foundations pay for it all? Think again. ... In short, arts money might not come from, or go, where you think. Here are seven myths about arts funding."

Auberle Employment Institute Helps At-risk Youths Build Foundations for Life from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Steadman and William Mitchell, 20, of the Hill District helped cut a path for a 10-foot-wide, two-mile trail for hiking and cross-country skiing at the garden, which is being developed on 460 acres of land, much of which was mined. Their work is part of a McKeesport-based nonprofit's year-old Employment Institute, which partners with private companies to provide at-risk youth with job skills. Auberle , a 61-year-old Catholic charity, created the institute about a year ago by pulling together several existing job-training programs."

Sharing the Property Tax Burden from WESA's program, Essential Pittsburgh 
"In order to meet fiscal challenges should nonprofits pay taxes? We’ll address the issue with State Senator Jim Ferlo, get an update on the city council ..."

EDITORIAL!!

Tax their Payrolls: Large Nonprofits Must Support City Services from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh has spent more than a decade trying to figure out a way to tap its largest nonprofit organizations for a reasonable share of the cost of services in the city they call home. The efforts always end in frustration. Now, though, state Sen. Jim Ferlo, a former Pittsburgh city councilman, has come up with a plan that could resolve the issue for good, and it contains a sweetener that might increase its chances for passage in the Legislature."

Fitzgerald Tells Allegheny County Nonprofits to Justify Tax-exempt Statuses from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"In the coming months, thousands of nonprofit organizations will get a letter from Allegheny County asking them to demonstrate why the properties they own should continue to be exempt from taxes, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced on Tuesday."

Pittsburghers Turn Out for National Day of Service from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Hundreds of volunteers turned out at about 20 local events to help for the annual Martin Luther King National Day of Service."

Protesters Call on UPMC to Pay its ‘Fair Share’ from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"More than 100 community members and activists called on UPMC to adopt a “new code of conduct” during a protest Thursday morning in front of the City-County Building, Downtown. Chanting slogans for UPMC to “pay your fair share,” they said the health-care giant should contribute more money to the city …"

EDITORIAL!!

Privileged Property: The County Must Examine Tax-Exempt Holdings from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"It's a no-brainer. With 550,000 properties in Allegheny County freshly reassessed and many of their owners due higher tax bills in 2013, the county should routinely examine the validity of tax exemptions given to the properties of nonprofits. It doesn't."

Post-Gazette Series Pt. 6

Foundations are Credited with Resurrecting Pittsburgh's Economy After the 1980s' Collapse from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"What helped rescue the Pittsburgh area from complete collapse, Ms. Dewey believes, was a recognition by private foundations that it was time to step up and play a role in economic development and neighborhood revitalization through investment and leadership."