City Council tentatively OKs nonprofit groups' 3-year pledge A slim majority of Pittsburgh City Council members tentatively approved a pact with nonprofit groups yesterday, and several said they'd need more information before a final vote Monday.
At stake is at least $13.2 million in pledged contributions from universities, hospitals, foundations and other charities to the cash-poor city, including $4.6 million this year.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
City Council tentatively OKs nonprofit groups' 3-year pledge
Can beggers do anything more than smile and bear it? Sadly, the council has put itself in the lower role of simple handout taker.
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City Council tentatively OKs nonprofit groups' 3-year pledge
Thursday, November 03, 2005
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A slim majority of Pittsburgh City Council members tentatively approved a pact with nonprofit groups yesterday, and several said they'd need more information before a final vote Monday.
At stake is at least $13.2 million in pledged contributions from universities, hospitals, foundations and other charities to the cash-poor city, including $4.6 million this year.
Council members complained that the three-year term of the proposed contract with the nonprofit organizations would leave the city with a budget hole after 2007.
But a spokesman for the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, which represents at least 94 nonprofit organizations, said the term was non-negotiable.
Council's vote on the proposed contract with the fund was 5-0, with three abstentions. Abstaining were council members Twanda Carlisle, William Peduto and Doug Shields. Council President Gene Ricciardi was not present for the vote.
The nonprofit organizations have made "a good-faith effort," said Councilman Jim Motznik.
The agreement's three-year term "gives the next administration an opportunity to start those negotiations again and seek an agreement for the next five years, the next eight years, the next 10 years," he said.
Mr. Peduto said he wanted the fund to agree to join a commission that would discuss possible contributions beyond 2007.
That won't happen, said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and for the fund. Payments will be "for three years and three years only," he said.
The city wants the nonprofit groups to help it lobby for a statewide solution to the tax base problems of municipalities that host large tax-exempt institutions. Father Lengwin said the fund's board will consider that request.
"I'm certainly pleased that the preliminary vote is for approval," he said, adding that he'd release a check and a list of contributing organizations after a final vote, but not the amount each organization donated.
The level of nonprofit contributions is one of the outstanding issues in the city's 2006 budget. The city must submit a revised budget to the state-appointed Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority by Saturday, but may ask for a deadline extension, said city Treasurer Rich Fees.
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