The Times listed several recent developments that could impact not-for-profit hospitals, although it did not specifically mention hospitals:
- A bill in the Hawaii Legislature would require charities to pay a 1 percent tax.
- A Pennsylvania state senator has proposed an “essential services” fee on charities, based on the amount of property they own.
- The Honolulu City Council is considering increasing property taxes on not-for-profit organizations above their current cap of $100 a year.
- Several Kansas counties are considering revoking nonprofit organizations’ exemptions from property taxes.
- Last fall, Minneapolis made charities subject to fees charged to businesses and residents for streetlights.
Not-for-profits have managed to avoid permanent taxes in the past by sometimes agreeing to “payments in lieu of taxes,” such as Harvard University’s $2.2 million payment to the city of Cambridge in 2008.
Now, however, states and localities may press harder. An official of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns said members would have to consider new revenue sources if Indiana voters approved a November ballot item to cap residents’ property taxes.
Read the New York Times’ report on not-for-profit organizations.
