Pennsylvania Perspectives on Nonprofits’ Support of Local Governments

ThePittsburgh Post-Gazette features a story that presents a rather friendly spin onPILOTS and other financial contributions made by Pennsylvania nonprofits,ranging from donations derived from a local church’s vacation Bible schoolfundraiser for a police canine unit, to annual $30,000 PILOTS made by SetonHill University.  Most of the story reflectsa governmental perspective based on positive assessments of the contributionsof nonprofits to the community, yet with expectations that nonprofits contributefinancially to at least some functions provided by government. 

Thearticle also floats another idea – that state law be modified “to assess a universal fee based on abuilding’s square footage to offset some of a community’s costs for fire,police, street repair and snow removal.”  Assessing nonprofits reasonable fees for certain governmentservices, rather than either normal property taxes or case-by-case PILOTS, strikesme as an approach worth considering.     

JRB