Pittsburgh Faces $3.2-Million Budget Gap Pending Nonprofit Payments

Pittsburgh officials and nonprofit groups are still negotiating a proposed $3.2-million payment in lieu of taxes by city charities, funds already included in the 2012 municipal budget approved in January by state overseers, writes the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Reynolds Clark, chairman of nonprofit advisory body the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, said there have been no talks between senior leaders on the two sides, a departure from past negotiations. But Daniel Regan, the city’s top attorney, said his office has been working for several months with lawyers for the fund and has produced a draft agreement.

The Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, an administrative body established by the state to oversee Pittsburgh’s finances, signed off on the city’s $458-million budget based on promises that Pittsburgh would finalize a deal on nonprofit contributions. “If they simply haven’t done it, we’ll have to push it,” authority executive director Henry Sciortino said of the talks.