Local

UPMC wants city to bill subsidiaries for taxes

PITTSBURGH (AP) — An attorney for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center says the city should send it a tax bill to its subsidiaries if city officials really believe the hospital network shouldn't be a tax-exempt nonprofit.

That challenge was aired at an Allegheny County court hearing into an ongoing lawsuit filed by the city, which contends the hospital network behaves more like a business than a nonprofit, and should therefore pay taxes on its properties.

But UPMC attorney William Pietrogallo -- who has argued UPMC, itself, doesn't have any employees -- says the city should focus on whether to tax UPMC's 44 subsidiaries, 23 which are tax-exempt and 21 that pay taxes.

Pietrogallo says the city should send tax bills to whichever additional subsidiaries it believes should be taxed, so those disputes can be argued in court.