Luke the Idiot Boy Mayor is at it again.

[hopita]

Oh, for the love of Mike.

The Idiot Boy mayor has asked city council to tax college students for the privilege of going to school in Pittsburgh

Comments

[sleepsong]

I'm torn. On the one hand, that seems kind of shitty. On the other, it makes a fair amount of sense that 100,000 people who use city streets and public libraries without paying for them for several years should contribute toward this. If you look at the numbers, Pitt students only have to pay $135 a year. People complained less when CMU levied a $100 per semester (so $200 a year) "technology fee" from all students.

I feel like I should have more of a problem with it than I do, but... Yeah, I'm pretty much OK with it.

[and_suddenly]

i agree with this totally.

[t3knomanser]

Here's the thing: we want students to come to the city. College students are a huge bonus to the local economy. While it's not a big sum of money, it's still going to discourage students.

Also: most students are employed in the city, and hence are paying the residency fees. And if they live off campus, through rent, they're paying property taxes to the city.

I think it's a stupid way to make up the shortfall.

[sleepsong]

$135 in taxes isn't going to keep me from attending a college.

And as for "most" students being employed in the city, that's hardly true. The majority of students who work are employed by the universities themselves and I'm fairly certain there's some sort of tax exemption for work studies. I know that when I was an undergrad I knew a total of one person who had a job out in the community.

At the end of the day, the money has to come from somewhere, and I feel much more comfortable with it coming from people who voluntarily use the services from which the taxes are coming (ie attending college) than from those who are forced to pay taxes on a service they desperately, involuntarily needed (ie ambulance ride after a heart attack).

Students are still going to come to the city. If they're already paying $30,000 for a year's tuition, an extra $135 is a drop in the bucket that people from outside the city won't even realize is there and people from the area who know about it will forget about in a couple of weeks.

[bojojohn]

I heard that this morning on NPR and was appalled.

[dabroots]

I might feel okay with taxing dorm residents at the various universities and colleges, as most of them are not from Pittsburgh. Then again, they're already paying sales taxes and having local taxes taken out of any paychecks they might be getting.

[su_carbs]

Here's a thought...why not tax Pitt and UPMC instead? Make them pay their fair share of the city services *they* use. Yeah right, pigs will fly before that happens. I don't agree with taxing students at all--shouldn't it be up to the people to vote on it? If that's true, does "taxation without representation" sound familiar?

nitpicking, I know

[dreamslesssweet]

Pgh college students--even if they're nonlocal--can still vote in Pittsburgh elections using a local address and are therefore represented (as long as they're citizens, of course).

That said, it does seem silly. Might as well tax the unemployed for using city services and not, uh, paying taxes. I don't get it, to be honest. And while CCAC students would be paying $27 a year, CMU students would be paying about 400. That's a ridiculous burden to shoulder on students.

Re: nitpicking, I know

[themachinestops]

CMU students would be paying about 400. That's a ridiculous burden to shoulder on students.

How much is CMU's tuition up to now?

Seriously, if $400 a year will keep someone from attending a college they would otherwise attend, they're not really serious about it. Same with the $135 levied on the Pitt students. I think there should be an exception for students who do work in non-work study positions in the city or live off-campus or are otherwise paying taxes to the city, but as sleepsong said, that is a small fraction of Pitt students. City infrastructure and facilites cost money to keep up, and one should not be exempted from having to pay for it because they are in the privileged position of being a student.

Re: nitpicking, I know

[dreamslesssweet]

CMU's tuition (excluding housing, fees, etc) is $40K. If you include everything else, it's $53K.

Given that the tax probably wouldn't be paid by financial aid sources, this could be a serious problem for students who are paying their own way or whose parents can't front it.

That aside, why should CMU students be paying 20 times more for the same services as CCAC students?

[jillkatherine]

While I'm on the fence about this, it could have been worse. When I first heard what Prettyboy was doing, I was angered, thinking it would be closer to 5%. 1% is near reasonable.