A two-hour meeting between Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and three university presidents was positive enough to spur the mayor to seek another one-week delay in a council vote on a proposed tuition tax.

"We didn't propose any deals," Mr. Ravenstahl said after hosting Robert Morris University President Gregory Dell'Omo, Carlow University President Mary Hines and Point Park University President Paul Hennigan.

"We have, as a result of these conversations today, agreed to ask City Council to hold the bill for another week, in an effort to continue [talks] ... We've agreed to hold for a week, and we've done so, because we believe that they will in good faith go and continue trying to progress and get toward alternative solutions."

The tuition tax originally was set for a tentative vote on Dec. 2, but that was postponed until Wednesday, and will now apparently come no earlier than Dec. 16. If the first vote was held then, a final vote could occur Dec. 21.

Mr. Ravenstahl said he continued to communicate the city's need for $15 million year to replenish the dwindling pension fund, as well as his desire to come up with an alternative to the 1 percent tuition levy he proposed Nov. 9. He said he also had a phone conversation earlier today with University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg.

"When you're looking at a number like $15 million, that is a significant number, and that is not a number you can arrive at in a short period of time," Mr. Ravenstahl said.

The three presidents left the City-County Building through a back door, much as Dr. Hines and Dr. Hennigan did after meeting with council members Friday. The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education had no comment after the meeting.

Mr. Ravenstahl said he will "vehemently oppose" legislation introduced today by state Rep. Paul Costa that would bar tuition taxes, "because it's irresponsible to say, 'You can't do this,' without coming up with a solution to the problem."

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