[Vision2020] Tax abuse rampant in nonprofits

Thu Apr 7 13:53:21 PDT 2005

 Barbara - thank you so much for this information.

Do those other universities own 50% of the housing that their student base
is in? Which is where Moscow is at. Give or take a point.

Do you think this new school levy will reduce our present tax burden? Or
maybe add to it. I would love to hear your thoughts. Don't you think we are
at our maximum tax already? There is no more money from us. We are bleeding
at the seams already. So - what happens when our water and sewer rates are
increased 67% which is coming shortly? Where are we going to get that money?
We certainly don't get raises at our jobs because our employer's cost to
keep us is so high. Those of us that are self employed get to deal with
almost monthly increases of insurance, taxes .... yadda yadda.

You are aware that this year a lot of buisnesses in Moscow are hurting
because of the weather? You know the students have been going home for the
weekends. This hurts all of us. Well....... except the landlords and the
insurance guy and a few others that get a monthly paycheck NO MATTER WHAT.

We are not even going to discuss the gas prices which we all pay.

My point is: WE CANNOT AFFORD MORE TAXES. WE ARE TAXED OUT!

Cheers,
Phil

-------Original Message-------

From: Barbara Richardson Crouch
Date: 04/07/05 13:27:28
To: FCS at moscow.com; rforce at moscow.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Tax abuse rampant in nonprofits

Mark,

Many other communities in the US have universities or colleges that are
tax exempt and do not seem to have the perceived tax burder or problem
that Moscow has.  For example, Pocatello has ISU however, they also have
diversified their economy so that they are not overly dependent on ISU for
their economic base - and yes their tax rate is lower than ours.
Basically, a governmental budget is like any other budget - if you spend
more than you earn - there is a problem.  The people of Moscow may want
more services than they are willing to pay for - or allow development for -
  that will not be corrected by bringing in more revenues from taxing the
University or other governmental units.

Barbara

> I don't know how it could be accomplished, but I'd love to see all tax
> exemptions abolished and a proper distribution of the resulting tax
dollars.
> I have a sense that most tax exempt entities do not provide a comparable
> community benefit to offset tax "losses".  Even if a governmental agency
is
> taxing itself (State, County, Federal, UI, USPO, etc.) - I'd prefer to
have
> them taxed and the revenues distributed in a revamped system.  I'm
curious
> as to whether this would prove to be beneficial for a greater good or
just a
> shift of burden from current paying entities at the expense of current
> exempt entities.  Maybe Moscow is unique with its overly burdened tax
payer,
> but what would be the negatives that cancel the benefits of a more evenly
> distributed tax burden?  Perhaps an economist or others can weigh in on
this
> and provide me with better insight?
>
> Mark
>
> Mark Seman, Architect
> Heather Seman, Landscape Architect
> 1404 East 'F' Street  Moscow, Idaho 83843
> v 208-883-3276 / f 208-883-0112
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
> [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of Ron Force
> Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 3:09 PM
> To: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: [Vision2020] Tax abuse rampant in nonprofits
>
>
> Tax Abuse Rampant in Nonprofits, IRS Says
>
> By Albert B. Crenshaw
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Tuesday, April 5, 2005; Page E01
>
> ....Everson raised particular concerns about nonprofit hospitals and how
hard
> it is to distinguish them from for-profit hospitals; political activity
by
> nonprofits; misuse of entities set up to allow religious leaders to hold
> property and conduct business for the benefit of a religious
organization;
> and deals designed to allow members of a tribe to benefit from gambling
> revenue without owing taxes...
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26388-2005Apr4.html
>
>
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