Allegheny County Schedules Hearing on UPMC Property Tax-Exempt Status (Pittsburgh: crime, attorneys)

[Pghuser]

Here is what UPMC provides to this region: JOBS

Let's not start blaming them for the bad decisions past/current politicians have made.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by Pghuser

Here is what UPMC provides to this region: JOBS

Let's not start blaming them for the bad decisions past/current politicians have made.

I suppose you support all businesses being exempt from property tax? Or perhaps those who work for UPMC within a given municipality would rather have that local area take additional payoll tax out of their income in order to pay for the infrastructure they have the privilege to use by way of being employed by an entity that doesn't pay anything for that infrastructure.

I'm not certain what bad decisions you're pointing to. Have a list you'd like to share?

[Clint.]

Don't BNY Mellon, PNC, Giant Eagle, and USS provide a lot of jobs, too? I'm not sure why UPMC always seems to expect special kudos for employing people in jobs that usually can't be outsourced; all urban regions in the U.S. have hospitals that are significant employers. I don't see what makes UPMC unique in that sense.

For that matter, UPMC is actually quite dependent on having a lot of healthy employers in the region. Either that or they are going to be providing a lot of unreimbursed care, or depend on a lot of Medicare and Medicaid patients.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by Clint.

Don't BNY Mellon, PNC, Giant Eagle, and USS provide a lot of jobs, too? I'm not sure why UPMC always seems to expect special kudos for employing people in jobs that usually can't be outsourced; all urban regions in the U.S. have hospitals that are significant employers. I don't see what makes UPMC unique in that sense.

For that matter, UPMC is actually quite dependent on having a lot of healthy employers in the region. Either that or they are going to be providing a lot of unreimbursed care, or depend on a lot of Medicare and Medicaid patients.

And you know . . . by fact that I live here, someone has to work a gas station, be a doctor, stock grocery shelves, work on a road, deliver my mail. I'm providing a small amount of work for those people too. For all of their jobs, a small wedge of their employment is because of me. If it weren't for me there would be incrementally fewer jobs in the area.

Maybe I shouldn't have to pay taxes either.

No, I'm not providing as many jobs as a big "charity" like UPMC, but I'm also not asking for as much money. Maybe people should just look the other way when I do something to screw over my neighbors. Perhaps a few grand to get me going here and there. Or maybe the city should just let me buy a house and not pay the tax bill. They'd go for that, right? I think that's very fair. I'm very charitable.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Clint.

Don't BNY Mellon, PNC, Giant Eagle, and USS provide a lot of jobs, too? I'm not sure why UPMC always seems to expect special kudos for employing people in jobs that usually can't be outsourced; all urban regions in the U.S. have hospitals that are significant employers. I don't see what makes UPMC unique in that sense.

For that matter, UPMC is actually quite dependent on having a lot of healthy employers in the region. Either that or they are going to be providing a lot of unreimbursed care, or depend on a lot of Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Pretty well sums it up. UPMC is operating like a for-profit business seems to me. And they're really not holding the best hand if they are determined to not be tax exempt. They need to keep up their various programs to maintain their reputation. And it's not the type of situation where they could pull up stakes and go do it somewhere else and gain back their exempt status.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Clint.

Don't BNY Mellon, PNC, Giant Eagle, and USS provide a lot of jobs, too? I'm not sure why UPMC always seems to expect special kudos for employing people in jobs that usually can't be outsourced; all urban regions in the U.S. have hospitals that are significant employers. I don't see what makes UPMC unique in that sense.

For that matter, UPMC is actually quite dependent on having a lot of healthy employers in the region. Either that or they are going to be providing a lot of unreimbursed care, or depend on a lot of Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Correct. All businesses provide jobs. UPMC isn't special in that way. What they have is a huge advantage and they suck up piles of real estate and take that real estate off the tax base of the city and surrounding area. It is BS really! $4,000 for an MRI????? Are you kidding me? How much would it be if they had to pay tax like other businesses? $50K

[gg]

County probing UPMC's tax exemption | www.wpxi.com

[WhoIsStanwix?]

It sounds like attendence was substantial, with 50 people listening to proceedings from out in the hallway. Still, I find it pretty disheartening that the SEIU took at least some of the time allotted to discussing property tax issues to lobby its cause of unionizing service employees. While that cause is important to some, it's not the business of the county or related to property tax.

See more info here:

UPMC tax status contested - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[gg]

Good link WhoIsS. $6million a year! It is high time this place is exposed for what it really is. Just another big business that should be paying taxes like any other company. Heck, there aren't all that many companies that have a CEO making $6 million and a pile of execs making over a million a year. Pure greed. If you are going to operate like a greedy company, you should at least pay property tax. If they don't like it, move out! Someone else will move in, no problem. Where there is a demand there is a company willing to provide the service. UPMC has completely lost its way. They are a for profit company like any other.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

I also have interesting thoughts, being someone who values services in healthcare, about how they "value" charitible services. I suspect that UPMC determines the value of those services as billed charges, and doesn't really go through any sort of extensive audit because there aren't tax implications to UPMC for providing them. The reality is, the value of services is what they could've actually collected from a paying patient. 9 times out of 10, this is far less than the billed charge. In insurance, this is the "allowable charge" or "allowed charge".

h_curtis, I'm constantly reminded of this in your $4,000 MRI story. UPMC would've probably charged their own health plan something like $900-1500 for the MRI. In your case you saw a $4,000 value. The true cost is far less than that.