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At a time when charities nationwide are receiving fewer donations and fielding more requests for help, some elected officials are turning to a rather unusual source for additional tax revenue - charities.
Hawaii's legislature, for example, is looking at imposing a 1 percent excise tax on nonprofits. The New York Times reported that in Kansas and elsewhere, lawmakers are talking about requiring charities to pay sales taxes. Some counties in Pennsylvania, among other states, are looking at lifting property-tax exemptions.
In Minneapolis, leaders decided to charge nonprofits the same fees imposed on businesses and residents to help pay for streetlights. The executive director of Minnesota's nonprofit council called it the equivalent of "looking under the sofa cushions."
Some of the revenue-generating ploys are designed to get universities, hospitals and other large nonprofits to help cover the cost of services such as law enforcement. But the efforts are also hitting groups that provide mental health programs and address other needs.
Nationally, few state and local governments have been able to cope with the current recession without cutting programs ordinarily spared even in tough budget times. That's certainly been the case in Virginia and Hampton Roads.
But even as leaders in the commonwealth and region argue over the depth of Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposed cuts to education and social programs, there is - fortunately - no move afoot to tap nonprofits for revenue.
It should never come to that in Virginia, of course. But neither should it happen anywhere else.
Elizabeth Boris, head of the Urban Institute's Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, recently described the state of charities for The Wall Street Journal: "Donations are down. Government funding is down. Need is up." It's "a triple whammy," she said.
It appears that in some places, if government has its way, it'll soon become a quadruple whammy - with force of the blows ultimately hitting people who can least afford it. Even desperate times don't call for measures this desperate.
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sorry
There are too many non-profits that do not do anything except collect tax free contributions and shuffle the money back and forth to each other. Elizabeth Dole was paid in excess of $400,000 annually when she was the figure head for the Red Cross a decade ago. Now the waste and the devastation to the Boys and Girls Club of America has been in the news. Their exorbitant salaries, $1 million dollars annually to Roxanne Spillet and equally ridiculous salaries to others in the organization, these are tax free dollars not spent on the youth of America. Not only does this organization receive tax free donations, but it receives funding from the federal government taken out of the pockets of everyday taxpayers.
This has to stop. The entire code section of the IRS regarding 503(c) organizations aught to be severely restricted or obliterated. Billions of dollars sitting in their coffers that do little to help the homeless, hungry, children, elderly. This is the largest scam every perpetuated on the American people.