Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Hey Nonprofit, Can You Spare a Dime?

Racine Mayor John Dickert has sent out a letter to Racine tax exempt nonprofit organizations asking them to "consider paying a portion of the property tax the city would normally charge them if their properties were taxed" according to this Journal Times article.  A few random thoughts on the subject to follow.

I have no problem with the city asking for money but I suspect that in time "asking" will be replaced by "insisting."

Certainly there are plenty of people who would welcome an elimination of the tax exempt status of some institutions, particularly religious ones. But in many cases these institutions are providing services for people which would otherwise cost the government. Still, I think the hostility towards religion is so strong for some that they would welcome any effort to damage religion in favor of their preferred religion of militant secularism.

Speaking of militant secularists, the article mentions the Olympia Brown Unitarian Church and two spokespeople, both of whom would personally favor contributing, though the decision is in the hands of their board. As the Unitarians tend to favor big government liberalism at every turn and pass those costs to the rest of us, I am at least grateful that they might now consider picking up part of the tab. Is there really any difference between a donation to the Unitarian Church or one to the City of Racine?

A better idea in my view would be to sell all government owned buildings not serving a legitimate government purpose. Sell all residential and commercial buildings and let go of employees working in residential and commercial property development. Not only would the city get money from the sale of said properties, but they would also be returning properties to the tax rolls from which they never should have been removed. And while they are at it they could demonstrate a commitment to property rights by revoking the conditional use permit that effectively politicizes all entrepreneurism while allowing the city to discriminate against those wishing to serve black people.

The program is called Racine's Fair Share, a name that implies that non-profits are not paying their fair share. I doubt that is the case with most non-profits who I suspect are saving us all money via their service.


14 comments:

GearHead said...

Are you saying there is still a lot of fat within the city of Racine? You must hate people, government, and cushy government jobs ;-)

GearHead said...

And what about the "league of municipalities" or whoever the heck they are? Who pays for that happy little club, anyway? Noticed they are lobbying for their "fair share" of the state budget surplus "windfall" they somehow feel entitled to. A little more free money always goes a long ways towards not having to make a hard decision. Dickert has no shame.

Anonymous said...

...who I suspect are saving us all money via their service...

I'm not sure this is correct. Look at the size of the WFDC and the abundance of 501(c)3 orgs in Racine. Add to this the millions of 'grant' $$ being handled by both groups.
I don't think anyone is saving the taxpayer any money.
An alternative is to eliminate the WFDC and the 501(c)3s. Put all the property back on the tax roll, eliminate WFDC employees. With all tjhose savings & tax receipts we can afford to give each needy Racinian probably $5,000 a year.

thejasman said...

the mayor should stop spending money so frivolously.

he shouldn't have the city foot the bill for him when he was sued.

oh and the city hall bathrooms.

Anonymous said...

Bad idea on many levels. First off, SPECIFICALLY what will this money be used for? Is it tax deductable? Why would anyone in their right mind just give money to the city with no specific use? What about seperation of chruch & state? They also indicated they would be publishing church's and the amount they donate? Advertising? This whole thing just makes the city look desperate and pathetic.

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