$1M Tax Credits Awarded to Larimer Housing Plan from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency has awarded $1 million in low-income housing tax credits for a plan to redevelop Pittsburgh’s Larimer community.  The Housing Authority of The City Of Pittsburgh and the Urban Redevelopment Authority applied for the funding in September after selecting Keith B. Key as the developer for the first phase of the plan. As a result, construction of 40 new mixed-income housing units can begin this summer."

Teachers Union Supports Ravenstahl Tax Battle against UPMC from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"""UPMC must clearly make a choice: to live up to its tax-exempt status and meet the criteria that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has put forth, or to pay its share on taxes that would be enough to eliminate the deficits of both the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Port Authority.""

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.

$175M in 3 Port Authority of Allegheny County Transit Projects in Talks from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Port Authority of Allegheny County is negotiating with developers to start three projects on its property this year costing more than $175 million. Although the agency will neither spend nor make a lot of money on any of the projects, all stand to add substantially to the tax rolls."

NEWS CONFERENCE!!

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is Expected to Challenge the Tax-exempt Status of Health Care Giant UPMC at a News Conference on Wednesday from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Officials in Ravenstahl's administration declined to discuss details, but spokeswoman Marissa Doyle said an announcement is set for 11:30 a.m."

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl

Pittsburgh City Council OKs Pursuit of Major Tax Package for Hazelwood Project; Deal Will Provide Tax Benefits for $900 Million Development from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh City Council today gave the Urban Redevelopment Authority the green light to pursue the largest tax increment financing deal in the city's history, an arrangement that would provide upwards of $90 million in tax benefits for a proposed $900 million residential and commercial development in Hazelwood. The proposal would allow a portion of the tax dollars paid on the property to be earmarked for roads, utilities, parks and other public improvements on the riverfront land, the former site of the LTV coke works."

LTV Coke Works site

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."

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."

Moody's Says Western Pa.'s Tax Review Bad for Nonprofits from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service says Allegheny County's review of tax-exempt property "is a credit negative" for nonprofits."

Mayor Forms Task Force on Nonprofit Payments from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The group is to examine how other cities handle nonprofit contributions and make recommendations regarding the "level, length and form of support from the nonprofit sector to the city of Pittsburgh," Dana Yealy, authority chairman, said in a letter to Mr. Ravenstahl."

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

UPMC Tax Status Contested from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Councilman John DeFazio, who chaired the hearing, said Wednesday's session likely would be the first of several to examine the status of tax-exempt properties. UPMC is both the largest private employer in the county and the largest property owner. A recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigative series found that UPMC controlled real estate valued at $1.6 billion and claimed 86 percent of its property as tax exempt."

UPMC Hit with Barrage of Criticism at Hearing on Tax-exempt Status from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review
"About 200 people packed an Allegheny County Council hearing room on Wednesday and sounded off against UPMC on everything from its nonprofit status to the wages it pays the housekeeping staff. More than 90 people signed up to speak during the hearing initially approved to get public input about UPMC’s tax-exempt status on several of its properties."

EDITORIAL!!

Taxing Problem: Assessments Complicate City School Budget from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Public Schools hold a rare distinction among Pennsylvania school districts -- the property tax rate has not been raised for 11 years. Now, though, uncertainty over pending assessment appeals has left Superintendent Linda Lane with little choice but to end that enviable streak and propose a small hike for 2013 -- just in case."

EDITORIAL!!

A RADical Plan: RAD Transit Funding Should be One-Time Only from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Port Authority should not come asking for RAD money every year."

EVENT!!

Allegheny County Schedules Hearing on UPMC Properties; Health Care Giant's Tax-exempt Status of Holdings is Focus from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
"Allegheny County Council will take a look at the tax-exempt status of UPMC real estate at a public hearing Dec. 5. "People have been asking a lot of questions about this [topic]," Councilman John DeFazio said at a council meeting last week. "It's a good idea to have this meeting and air it out properly in front of everybody." His comment was met with loud applause from the two dozen people who attended Wednesday's council meeting to show their support for a public hearing."

EVENT!!

How Allegheny County Residents can Register for UPMC Hearing from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Allegheny County residents and taxpayers who want to speak at county council's public hearing about UPMC's tax-exempt property must register at least one day before the Dec. 5 event. Presentations must be limited to three minutes."