Council president ignores the nonprofit difference

In rebuttal to Allegheny County Council President Rich Fitzgerald's rebuttal "Tax the Nonprofits: They Should Pay Their Fair Share for County Services" (Nov. 18 Perspectives): I could not disagree more. His weak argument is that some taxed, for-profit corporations like PPG, PNC, Bayer and U.S. Steel contribute to the common good -- and if they are taxed, so should nonprofits. He believes profits and nonprofits share the same roads, etc., and they should all be taxed.

The obvious difference is corporations, like the examples mentioned, are for making big bucks ... profit! Most nonprofits are lucky, with the possible exception of UPMC, if they break even for the fiscal year. Many nonprofits may not be able to sustain these taxes year after year.

Sure, organizations like UPMC need to be scrutinized differently because of their size and split nonprofit and profit status. But making an across-the-board decision to tax all nonprofits simply to find extra cash would ultimately hurt those organizations.

This could mean less of these needed services to the community. Their missions are all for the greater good of the community served. The big for-profits' mission is to make money! Nothing wrong with that, but the objectives are starkly different. A donation here or there pales in comparison to what most nonprofit organizations do for the community. If I could I would freely plow snow off of their streets.

 

JEFF BISDEE
Edgewood