With its students in the crosshairs of a revenue-hunting city, University of Pittsburgh representatives yesterday met with Pittsburgh City Council members to make the case that their institution already gives enough.

"We really do feel that we contribute more than we take in terms of services," said Paul Supowitz, Pitt's vice chancellor for governmental relations, after the meetings.

When talk turned to the fee on college students contemplated in Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's proposed 2010 budget, the Pitt officials made their position clear.

"Our tax-exempt status is vital to us, and we will fight to preserve that tax-exempt status," Mr. Supowitz said.

The university might, though, be willing to lend some of its lobbying muscle to any city effort to get state help.

Mr. Ravenstahl wants to raise $15 million through a mix of fees per college student, per hospital admission, on all-day parkers in public garages, or on water bills for educational and medical institutions. That would cover costs in the city's Act 47 Recovery Plan, which requires it to boost contributions to its pension fund by $10 million to $14 million a year.

Council will get the budget in November and vote on it in December.

Pitt representatives said their institution already generates $2 million annually in property taxes to the city and school district, plus $2.2 million in parking and amusement taxes to the city.

Councilwoman Theresa Smith, who pushed for the meetings, said students and hospital patients "should be the last place we are looking" for revenue. But she added: "I will vote for [such fees] if there is no other recourse."

"My concern is that with Act 47, there's not much that we can do as a city other than place service fees" on large tax-exempt organizations, said Councilwoman Darlene Harris, after leaving one of the meetings with Pitt. "I believe Pitt's willing to work with us, and we're going to talk some more."

Only a few council members at a time met with Mr. Supowitz, Vice Chancellor G. Reynolds Clark and city/county relations Assistant Director James Williams, so the meetings were not open to the public. Members said they might set up a follow-up meeting with the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education, which represents 10 colleges and universities.

City Council has never acted on an offer from the tax-exempt umbrella group of nonprofit institutions called the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund to donate $5.5 million in voluntary contributions over three years, because it is so much lower than the $14 million the fund paid from 2005 through 2007. Mr. Clark, vice chancellor at Pitt, is the fund's vice chairman.

Ms. Smith said that she learned in the meeting that the number of organizations willing to donate to the city through the fund dropped from more than 100 in 2005 to around three dozen.

She said Pitt officials noted that some organizations -- though not Pitt -- opted to give to the Pittsburgh Promise of college tuition aid rather than the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund.

Mr. Supowitz said the public service fund may not be the solution to the city's problems.

"We do believe that a good part of the solution to Pittsburgh's problems will involve Harrisburg," he said. Pitt has "a presence in Harrisburg" that could help advance the right proposal, though not if "it would impinge upon our tax-exempt status."

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