What could Pittsburgh Public do with an extra $11 million?
Pittsburgh Public Schools raised its property tax rate last year to help shrink its deficit from $56 million to $27 million. But there’s a greater revenue stream that could slash the red ink – and the district lacks leverage to tap into it.
PublicSource analyzed the tax-exempt property holdings of the city’s five largest nonprofits and found that the school district would receive about $11 million a year if the institutions paid 25% of the money their property would otherwise generate. This spring, local fiscal watchdogs recommended that the city and county enter agreements with the major nonprofits to pay that 25%.
What would the district do with the extra money? It’d pay its bills, “then really think about, ‘What are the wonderful things that we can do for the children and families that we serve in Pittsburgh Public Schools?,” said new Superintendent Wayne Walters.
Read our story to learn more about how the city’s major nonprofits could support the district and the challenges that remain for PPS:
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