Instead of addressing pension problems escalating out of control, Pittsburgh Sets Vote on Adding Tax on Tuition.



The mayor of Pittsburgh calls it the “Fair Share Tax.” But to officials at the city’s 10 colleges and universities and many of their 100,000 students, it is anything but.



On Wednesday, the City Council is expected to give preliminary approval to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s proposal for a 1 percent tuition tax on students attending college in Pittsburgh, which he says will raise $16.2 million in annual revenue that is needed to pay pensions for retired city employees.



The tax would be the first of its kind in the nation, and other cities are watching closely as they try to find ways to close their own budget gaps.



“City officials see this as an untapped revenue source, and if Pittsburgh succeeds, I think you will see a lot of other cities immediately move to do the same,” said Terry Hartle of the American Council on Education, a lobbying group for universities. He added that if the Pittsburgh City Council approves the mayor’s proposal, the matter will surely go to the courts.



“This is a turning point for us,” said Joe King, president of the Pittsburgh firefighters’ union. He said that after Miami-Dade County in Florida, Allegheny County has the second largest number of seniors of any county in the United States and that in his union alone he has 900 retirees and 450 surviving spouses whose pensions need to be financed.

When and where does the insanity stop?

Taxman



Let me tell you how it will be,

There’s one for you, nineteen for me,

‘Cause I’m the Taxman

If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street,

If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat,

If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat,

If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.

have nots

haves

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