EDITORIAL: PILOTs deserve to be grounded

EDITORIAL: PILOTs deserve to be grounded: "EDITORIAL: PILOTs deserve to be grounded
Fee could hurt small not-for-profits
Sat. January 19 - 2008
IBJ Staff

At first glance, Indiana Rep. Thomas E. Saunders’ proposal doesn’t seem unreasonable: Why not charge not-for-profits a fee to help cover the costs of local services like police and fire protection? They don’t pay property taxes like the rest of us, after all, and we sure can’t afford to support freeloaders.

Thing is, we can’t afford the alternative, either.

Saunders’ House Bill 1281 would require charitable organizations to make payments in lieu of taxes (dubbed PILOTs) on property not used for governmental, educational or religious purposes."