“Strapped Cities Hit Nonprofits with Fees” reports The Wall Street Journal in its December 27, 2010 issue.
What’s it all about? Apparently, many municipalities are reconsidering the many special tax breaks received by non-profits. Typical is the exemption from property taxes offered in much of the nation. As an official from the National Council on Nonprofits is quoted, “Governments are taking their public burdens and putting them on the backs of nonprofits….”
Non-profit groups are fighting back but the jury is out (perhaps literally) on whether this effort will succeed.
This is one of several issues we will see this year that may affect the very viability of tax-exempt organizations. We remind you that non-profits may lobby with some restrictions, but those restrictions do not apply when the lobbying is done in “self-defense.” A future issue of our newsletter, Non-Profit Legal Matters, will be devoted to this topic. Subscribe to the newsletter so that you don’t miss it.