By Hallie Lauer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — As last Sunday’s winter storm exposed ongoing problems with Pittsburgh’s aging vehicle fleet, Mayor Corey O’Connor announced Thursday morning that UPMC will help fund the purchase of new ambulances for the city.
Just three weeks into his administration, Mr. O’Connor has begun to make headway on an issue that has frustrated Pittsburgh mayors for years: persuading the city’s large nonprofits, which don’t pay property taxes, to contribute financially to municipal services.
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At the EMS Rescue 2 Station Downtown on Thursday morning, Mr. O’Connor made the announcement that the medical center would give a $10 million gift to purchase nine ambulances and a rescue truck for the city. It typically takes about a year from the purchase for Pittsburgh to receive the ambulances because they are custom-built, but the city anticipates the new ambulances being in service by December.
The $10 million gift also will allow the city to redirect some of the $20 million City Council recently allocated toward the purchase of 35 new trucks for the Department of Public Works, which has struggled during snowstorms as older vehicles broke down.
“This is really about transforming our city,” Mr. O’Connor said Thursday morning. “This is money that has to go directly to impact our residents. When a neighbor calls for an ambulance, they see the benefit.”
The announcement comes as more than half the fleet has exceeded its recommended lifespan. City Council recently voted to raise property taxes in part to generate additional funding for replacing aging vehicles.
It would cost the city more than $200 million to entirely replace the fleet of more than 1,300 vehicles the city manages. City Council is considering legislation that would require at least a $20 million annual allocation for fleet maintenance and replacement.
“This investment is one step toward establishing a reliable funding source dedicated to maintaining a healthy fleet in the long term,” City Controller Rachael Heisler said in a statement. " UPMC’s generous contribution sets an example for how non-profits can partner with the City to sustain essential services, and we hope it encourages similar commitments from others in supporting critical public operations.”
EMS Chief Amera Gilcrist has previously warned that ambulances regularly break down while transporting patients to the hospital. On Thursday, she said she had no prior knowledge of the announcement.
“I’m actually floored,” she said. “This is like a present.”
UPMC President and CEO Leslie Davis said the donation reflects UPMC’s mission.
“First responders are often the first point of care for our patients ... a strong emergency response infrastructure is essential for a healthy community,” Ms. Davis said. “We hope that this investment will serve as a catalyst for broad collaboration among other civic nonprofit and private sector partners.”
For decades, Pittsburgh mayors have sought some sort of agreement with the large nonprofit organizations in the city — UPMC, Highmark Health, University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University — to help offset the cost of city services they rely on.
Former Mayor Bill Peduto had crafted a separate nonprofit organization, OnePGH, that the nonprofits could pay into. But former Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration axed the plan, citing the lack of oversight city officials would have on the spending. Instead, Mr. Gainey pursued lawsuits against the five largest nonprofits, challenging the tax-exempt status of some of their parcels of land.
The $10 million gift is just that, Mr. O’Connor said, a gift. Long-term agreements with the nonprofit groups, including UPMC, are still being discussed.
“We’re still in long-term conversations with everyone,” he said.
A 2022 report from the city and county controller’s offices found that UPMC alone would pay about $13.9 million in property taxes if they were not exempt. That number has not been updated to reflect recent millage increases from the county, city and school district. All together, based on 2022 rates, the Big 5 nonprofits would pay about $127.5 million across all three taxing bodies.
Officials from Highmark Health, the region’s other health care giant, said they were “actively engaged with the new mayor and his administration on how we can collaborate and collectively address the community’s health needs.”
Representatives from Highmark have maintained that the organization is ready to discuss contributions to the city, as long as the other nonprofits are also part of the conversations.
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