Pittsburgh Mayor to nonprofits: pay up or else

The Mayor Of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl, has told nonprofits to increase voluntary contributions or he'll create laws to make them pay more.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

One way or another, you're going to pay.

That was Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's message to big hospitals and universities, and to commuters yesterday, as he outlined his strategy to win new revenues for the city -- either through changes in state law or surcharges that he thinks he can impose unilaterally.

"As we see the reductions [in voluntary contributions from nonprofit organizations] continue, and not meet what we need, this is our alternative," he said of surcharges on hospital admissions, undergraduate students, all-day parkers and nonprofit water users. A move toward fees "potentially would be the best way to compel the nonprofits to come to the table." The mayor discussed the issue during a session with the Post-Gazette editorial board.

While the city's two big universities did not comment, its major hospital systems argued that they already contribute much.