Policy Update & Call to Action

Policy Update & Call to Action: Inform Our State's Senators, Charitable Giving Incentives Matter to Nonprofits      On June 27, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sent a  letter informing senators that the Committee will start consideration of a tax reform package with a "blank slate," meaning that it contains no deductions or credits, so Senators will have to fight to get their favored tax provisions re-inserted into the bill that is being drafted. The Committee leaders stressed that the legislation they are drafting on a bi-partisan basis will restore only those deductions, exclusions, credits, and other tax expenditures that: Help grow the economy Make tax laws fairer Effectively promote other policy objectives They've asked Senators to submit recommendations for provisions that meet these standards by July 26.    We are hearing that Senators are responding to the request for input with mixed views. Some may be submitting a list of priority tax provisions; others will likely provide a set of guiding principles for the Committee to follow; and still others apparently are refusing to send in anything out of fear that their submission will be made public. Virtually every lobbyist and interest group is clamoring for the attention of Finance Committee leaders, members, and staff. Some efforts to get their attention include submitting a sign-on letter and sending letters making the case for tax provision that affect their operations. NYCON has also taken steps in writing a letter to submit to the Senate Finance Committee for this "Blank Slate." We encourage members and nonprofits statewide to write your own letters to inform the Senate Finance Committee. Please feel free to use our letter as a template to model your own or weigh in as constituentsabout your work and the importance of the charitable giving incentive to your ability to solve problems in their communities share your stories with the National Council of Nonprofits Your stories will help us make clear to federal policy makers that the charitable giving incentive is unique from other tax deductions and credits and must be preserved in tax reform As always, thank you for your continued involvement with NYCON and for the tremendous work you are doing to make our communities strong and vibrant places to live and work. We truly appreciate your dedication and commitment. If you have any questions about this or any other public policy issue, please feel free to contact me. We look forward to working with you on these important issues.              Sincerely,               Doug Sauer, CEO             New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc.    The Charitable Giving Incentive   Federal tax law currently encourages individuals to give to charitable organizations whose missions they support by providing an itemized deduction. Policymakers in Washington are focusing on how to reduce the federal budget deficit through spending cuts, entitlement reforms, and changes to the tax code. The President, Senators, Representatives, bi-partisan commissions, and think tanks have all put forward plans to address these issues, and many propose changing the charitable giving incentive in one way or another. No one knows the true impact that any of these proposals will have on the ability of charitable nonprofits to raise the resources needed to provide the programs and services that fulfill their missions. It is imperative that Congress make no changes to the charitable deduction that threatens the ability of nonprofit organizations to serve those most in need and to continue to strengthen our communities. Proud Member of  the National Council of Nonprofits

Nonprofits here say 24 agencies save taxpayers $200 million

By Jay Tokasz

Would you invest $1 to save $11?

That’s the return rate for tax dollars spent on a variety of services provided by area nonprofit agencies, according to a new study by a local group of nonprofit executives.

The study by the Agency Executives Association examined programs at two dozen area agencies to come up with its government savings estimates.

Some of the savings occur in Medicare and Medicaid from programs that prevent hospitalizations or nursing home placements.

Taxpayers also save through services that reduce the number of kids who end up in juvenile detention and that move people from welfare into jobs.

For example, Meals on Wheels for Western New York serves meals to about 3,400 clients each year with a program budget of $4.4 million and a network of more than 1,500 volunteers.

The agency estimates that about 20 percent of those clients are able to remain in their own homes because they receive daily meals. Otherwise, those 680 clients would require nursing home care at an estimated $100,000 per year per client. That amounts to annual savings of $68 million from just one agency’s work, the study found.

Despite such data, Meals on Wheels is in jeopardy of losing funds due to the federal budget sequester that took effect in March, a scenario that ultimately would cost taxpayers more money. Many nonprofit agencies also are facing possible funding reductions in the state budget.

“The need has been growing every year,” said Tara A. Ellis, president and chief executive officer of Meals on Wheels.

In 2012, the agency distributed 5.3 percent more meals than in 2011, said Ellis.

“But the funding stayed flat, so if we were a business we would have lost money,” she said.

The agency filled its $350,000 funding gap by appealing to corporate donors.

But what would have happened had Meals on Wheels simply cut off services? Would some clients have ended up in nursing homes?

“The message we want to get out is there needs to be some smart policymaking here to invest in programs that save tax dollars,” said Jerry Bartone, executive director of Community Concern of Western New York and chairman of the Agency Executive Association’s leadership forum.

The AEA, an affiliate of the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County, represents 142 nonprofit agencies.

Looking at programs run by 24 area agencies, the study found that taxpayers save an estimated $200 million per year.

Some other nonprofits in the report included: the American Red Cross, Camp Good Days and Special Times, Compass House, Crisis Services, Goodwill Industries, Habitat for Humanity and Jewish Family Services.

Jewish Family Services’ refugee resettlement program, which costs $333,812 for 150 refugees, is estimated to save the government $2.5 million. Compass House provides shelter for 307 young people at a cost of $520,590, saving an estimated $10.9 million – the expense of housing those youth in a detention facility for a year.

The programs represent a broad cross section of services provided by an estimated 6,000 nonprofit organizations. Nearly 300 of those agencies operate with revenues of more than $1 million, generating a local economic impact of $2.7 billion.

“The whole intent was not to produce a definitive study on the issue. The whole intent was to begin the discussion,” said Paul C. Atkinson, chief executive officer and president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Buffalo and president of the AEA.

“We’ve just kind of scratched the surface of a lot of not-for-profits.”

The AEA hopes to meet with elected officials, foundations and other community members about its study.

Erie County legislators have not yet received a copy of the study and have not yet had a chance to review it. The county is asked to fund a lot of the agencies analyzed in the study.

Bartone and Atkinson said they were not advocating to increase funding for all nonprofit programs or to stop all cuts.

Atkinson acknowledged – as many funders have argued in the past – that the area probably has too many nonprofit organizations.

But an appropriate discussion should be held to determine adequate funding levels and to find agencies and programs that can deliver services most effectively and efficiently, he said.

Elected officials, added Bartone, “need to understand where to make investments and where to make cuts that benefit both taxpayers and the people who uses these services.”

N.Y. cities seek revenue sources other than property taxes

ALBANY — If Syracuse raises property taxes 1 percent, the city would get about $300,000 in revenue. Its pension bill is rising by $15 million next year.

If the city of Rochester raised property taxes to its constitutional limit, it would bring in $32 million in additional revenue. That would only be enough to cover the city’s budget deficit for next year.

While much of the focus of upstate cities’ financial problems have been on rising costs for pensions and health care, they are dealing with just as many problems on the revenue side of their ledgers.

“There has been a fundamental change in these places,” Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards said. “That fundamental change means that we just can no longer generate enough revenue to pay our expenses.”

Property taxes and state aid are cities’ main revenue sources. But a dwindling manufacturing sector, a glut of vacant properties and growing poverty have made property taxes a less reliable foundation for their budgets.

“Either with abandoned properties or tax-exempt properties, you can get just so much out of the folks who are still able to pay taxes,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.

Yonkers, which has property values four times higher than the average of other upstate New York cities, has also struggled with revenue. Property values declined 24 percent from 2008 to 2011 in Yonkers, a report Tuesday from DiNapoli found.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said last month that the city’s sales-tax revenue has increased in recent years, and there is some positive economic development. But it hasn’t made up for growing costs. He wants a state task force to look at cities’ problems.

“We still need to address the core issues that are facing cities,” he said after a budget hearing in Albany. “They will not be able to tax their way, cut their way nor borrow their way out of their issues. There needs to be a new matrix put in place.”

Last month, Moody’s Investors Services downgraded Binghamton’s credit rating and said it could take further steps against the city, citing its fiscal woes and diminishing tax base.

Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's Weekly News

Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's Weekly News

DiNapoli: Municipalities Should Ensure Background Checks For Youth Program Workers

Local governments could do more to conduct background checks on individuals working in municipal youth program services, according to an audit released Friday by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

DiNapoli Approves Terms of $3.14 Billion Tappan Zee Bridge Contract

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli last Friday announced he has approved a $3.14 billion contract between the state Thruway Authority and Tappan Zee Constructors to design and build the new Tappan Zee bridge.

Officers of Albany Nanotech Complex Safeguarding Public Funds

Fuller Road Management Corp., the not for profit corporation that runs the State University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, is fulfilling its duties to support and provide appropriate internal controls over operations and activities, and promoted an ethical business climate at the multi–billion dollar facility, according to a report released Friday by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

DiNapoli: State Tax Revenues Up, But Still Lag Projections

Tax collections through December totaling $46.4 billion were $48.3 million below the state’s latest estimates and $685.3 million below initial estimates in April. Higher than anticipated personal income tax collections in December likely reflect income paid before federal tax increases take effect in 2013 for high income taxpayers, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said last week in releasing the December cash report.

Comptroller DiNapoli Releases Municipal Audits

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Thursday announced his office completed audits of:
the City of Beacon; the Midway Fire District; the Niagara Falls Housing Authority; the Orleans County; the Town of Otto; and, the Village of Spring Valley.

Fiscal Cliff Campaign Update

Countdown to Tax Hikes: 22 Days

Countdown to Arbitrary Spending Cuts (sequestration): 24 Days

Need to Know: (action items in this message)

In this message we’re sharing several media ideas and tools that have been developed and utilized within the network. Please take a look, take action today, and tell us what you’re doing (so that everyone will benefit).

I. Big Picture

The media are reporting that momentum is building for Republicans to agree to a tax-rate increase of some level for upper-income taxpayers, which is President Obama’s top priority. There is also growing speculation that Democratic opposition is lessening on some entitlement reforms, such as raising the age for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67, and changing the index used for calculating inflation for Social Security payments. The oft-quoted mantra for congressional negotiations is that “nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to,” so no details are close to being final.

Yesterday, Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the “Hurricane Sandy and National Disaster Tax Relief Act” that, among other things, lifts the current cap on charitable giving (50 percent of Adjusted Gross Income) for qualified disaster contributions. Once again, policymakers are relying on incentives for giving to alleviate suffering and expedite recovery in their communities.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, 12/12 @ 3:30 – 4:30 Eastern), BoardSource is hosting a webinar on “The Fiscal Cliff’s Twin Threats Against the Work of Charities,” during which we will be sharing our message about how two parts of the fiscal cliff threaten to create massive new burdens on nonprofits and even more work for board leaders. By making funding cuts without reducing the underlying human needs, the demand on nonprofits will increase whilethe resources for providing needed services will decrease. Capping or limiting the value of charitable deductions will further reduce the ability of charitable organizations to meet the increasing need for services. You can share this with your board members and others so they join more than 350 already signed up to learn why they should raise voices. 

Register now to learn more about these potentially devastating threats and what each of us can do NOW to voice our views.  

Also tomorrow (Wednesday, 12/12 @ 1:00-2:00 pm Eastern), several national nonprofits are hosting a conference call on the charitable giving incentive. Speakers include Fr. Larry Snyder of Catholic Charities USA, Diana Aviv of Independent Sector, and Rand Wentworth of the Land Trust Alliance, among others. The call-in number is  712-432-7300: access code 57668#.

II. Network Status Update (Let Tammie Smith know what you’ve done lately)

• Letter to Congressional Delegations: 16 (of 42 State Associations/Nonprofit Allies)
• Action Alerts: 34 (of 42 State Associations/Nonprofit Allies)

• Number of Alerts: 44 (10 State Associations/Nonprofit Allies have sent 2 action alerts)
• NOTE: If you want us to send an Action Alert for you, we can. Just let us know.

• Media Outreach: 7 State Associations/Nonprofit Allies (13 contacts)

• Social Media: 17 Facebook postings

III. Good Ideas

As powerful as our individual stories are, letters and phone calls to policymakers alone will not carry the day. We need the help, engagement, and attention of the news media in the home towns of the elected officials. We offer the following ideas from around the network with the goal of getting rank-and-file Senators and Representatives to tell their leaders: “I’m taking a lot of heat back home; you’ve got to prevent these arbitrary cuts and refuse to cap or limit the charitable deduction””

• Targeted Joint Statements: Last week, leaders of 11 Catholic human service agencies in the Cincinnati area issued a joint statement calling on federal leaders to protect the poor and vulnerable there and abroad in fiscal cliff negotiations. The Cincinnati Enquirer picked up the story and informed all of Speaker John Boehner’s constituents of the potential local impact of the automatic cuts if he doesn’t reach a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

• Footnote to this story: Our colleague Beth Bowsky, who lives in Cincinnati, had previously shared with the Enquirer the network’s media statement and other materials, perhaps helping to lay the groundwork for the reporter’s interest prior to his receiving the local story from the Archdiocese.

• Media Statements: Several State Association leaders have issued comments to the press or talked with reporters as they prepare stories. The National Council of Nonprofits issued a Media Statementlast week – intentionally designed as a background piece rather than the usual news release. The Statement provides a summary of the broader context, all designed to garner the attention of editors for the issues presented.
• Editorial Board Meetings: Jim White, the new Executive Director for the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, participated in an editorial board meeting at the largest newspaper in the state along with two other nonprofit leaders. They addressed the questions raised, and, through excellent pre-meeting planning, covered all of the key points they wanted to make – using facts, stories, and obvious passion for the community.
• Divvying Up the State: Yes, we want every State Association to be seen as the leader on this issue in the state; but we all know that the local angle is usually the first interest for editorial boards. TheNorth Carolina Center for Nonprofits solved this problem by preparing and sharing materials for their geographically diverse board members to submit to their local news outlets. This week, the Center is following up with any uncovered media markets to ensure that the whole state is covered.
• Tools You Can Use: By all means, take the materials we’ve prepared and modify them for maximum impact in your state: Infographic, Media Statement, Myths vs. Realities, other resources.
• Share: Help us develop the best array of ideas and tools for getting the news media across the country to focus on the impact in communities of the arbitrary cuts and proposals to cap or limit charitable deductions. Share with us and your colleagues the press statements, op-eds, talking points, quotes, etc., that you have developed for media contacts in your states.

IV. Why We’re Fighting

We have received powerful comments from nonprofits throughout the country who have gone to the GiveVoice.org website. Here is a sampling (permission given for naming organizations):

• “We are a nonprofit organization who helps those with cancer at no cost to them or their families.  We rely on fundraisers and donations to stay open with an all-volunteer staff. We are the only organization offering the programs and services in the Tri-State area we live in. We rely on the current charitable giving incentives so we may continue to help those who are newly diagnosed or going through treatments.” We Care Cancer Support Inc., Bullhead, Arizona
• “Soroptimist International of the Central Jersey Coast services the hardest hit area of Storm Sandy. Many of our members have lost homes. Our neighbors are suffering devastating loss of homes, income, and emotional and physical needs. We must have our contributions so we can carry on our work to help women and girls in our community. We help the local women's shelter, girl scout's camp, sexual abuse rape victims, and the local children's hospital. We also give gifts for girl's who volunteer in our community and give scholarships to women rejoining the work force. Without the incentive to donate, our work will be over. Soroptimist International of the Central Jersey Coast, Lakewood, New Jersey

Report: Upstate pays state less in taxes than it receives

Upstate New York pays the state less in taxes and other revenue than it receives back in state expenditures, according to a report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the University at Albany.

About 24 percent of taxes and revenues collected by New York state in 2010 came from the upstate region, according to the report, titled “Giving and Getting.” But upstate New York received about 35 percent of state spending.

The Rockefeller Institute classified upstate New York as including 48 counties that are not part of the Capital Region, New York City, or the five-county downstate suburbs linked to New York City.

The Capital Region — made up of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties — also paid the state less than it received. It paid just below 4 percent of the state’s total taxes and receipts and received 7 percent of state spending.

Meanwhile, New York City and its downstate suburbs paid the state more than they received in expenditures.

New York City contributed more than 45 percent of all state taxes and revenues. It received about 40 percent of expenditures in return, according to the report.

Downstate suburbs in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties gave the state 24 percent or 27 percent of its taxes and revenues, depending on calculation methods used. Those areas took home around 18 percent of state funding, the Rockefeller Institute report found.

The report calculated receipts paid and expenditures received in each region using various methods — by place of residence and by place of work. Each method showed that upstate New York and the Capital Region received more than they paid, while New York City and its downstate suburbs paid more than they received.

Upstate New York would have lost between $8.1 billion and $9.3 billion if its share of state-funded expenditures matched the revenues it contributed, according to the Rockefeller Institute. The Capital Region would have lost about $2.7 billion.

New York City would have received an additional $4.1 billion to $6.1 billion in state funding if state expenditures matched revenues from the city, the report found. Downstate suburbs would have gained $4.6 billion to $7.9 billion.

The New York City–based Citizens Budget Commission, which describes itself as a nonprofit civic organization focused on changing the finances and services of New York City and New York state government, commissioned the report. It was supported by a grant from the New York Community Trust, a New York City–based community foundation with more than $1.9 billion in almost 2,000 individual charitable funds.

Reassessing nonprofits' free ride

The Buffalo News reported that as they struggle for revenue, municipalities look to tax-exempt entities to pay their 'fair share'

The New York Power Authority's 2,900-acre spread in Lewiston, including its massive Niagara Power Project, is assessed at $1.8 billion.

The Canisius College campus is assessed at $69 million.

And the assessment for Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital in Amherst is $37.7 million.

But they -- and scores of similar facilities owned or operated by nonprofits -- pay no village, town, city, school or county property taxes.

Now, local government officials here and across the country want to change this.

"It's an attempt to put a burden of the tax levy on the not-for-profits that are using services," said David C. Marrano, the Lancaster town assessor, who is negotiating payment agreements with nonprofits in the town. "At what point as a government do we ask these organizations to pay part of their fair share?"

Officials are prodding the operators of hospitals, senior housing facilities and private universities to pay something in place of property taxes.

At least 117 municipalities in 18 states -- most in the Northeast -- have reached payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, agreements with nonprofit organizations in the past, according to a report by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Private colleges are frequent targets of revenue-seeking governments. Several Ivy League schools, along with Syracuse University and Schenectady's Union College, pay their host cities.

Syracuse will receive $2.5 million over the next five years from the university -- its largest owner of tax-exempt property -- in a deal reached last month, the Post-Standard newspaper reported.

Locally, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, the Episcopal Church Home & Affiliates and Hospice Buffalo all have reached payment agreements with their host communities.

Recent court cases have given the government officials leverage in negotiating these agreements, while in other cases the payments are worked out as part of the project approval process.

"We have been a partner with the Town of Cheektowaga since the origination," said Maureen Lehsten, chief financial officer for Hospice Buffalo, which operates the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care. "We work really well together. They've supported us in our growth on the campus in Cheektowaga."

Boston, Pittsburgh and other cash-strapped municipalities have become more aggressive in negotiating these agreements as they seek new sources of revenue to balance their budgets.

In response, nonprofit leaders defend their tax-exempt status and tout the services they provide that otherwise would be a government responsibility.

But it's a matter of fairness to government officials, who say exempting so many parcels from property taxes shifts too much of the burden onto other businesses and homeowners.

"We don't have anywhere to go except the taxpayer," said Mike Johnson, the Town of Lewiston's finance director.

These nonprofit institutions provide valuable services: treating the sick and poor, housing the elderly and infirm and tending to the public's spiritual or educational needs.

For this reason, schools, churches, hospitals and government offices are for the most part exempt from property tax.

Those institutions often must pay special district taxes such as water, sewer or fire.

In cities and older villages, where government buildings, religious institutions and similar structures tend to be concentrated, tax-exempt properties can account for a large proportion of all properties.

Vast sums of money
In Lewiston, where Niagara University, the Power Authority and other entities hold vast tracts of land, 67.7 percent of property in the town is not taxable, said Linda E. Johnson, the town assessor.

"We have probably the largest amount of tax-exempt land in Western New York," she said.

In Buffalo, developer Rocco Termini pointed to the construction of the new federal courthouse, at a site that previously held tax-paying businesses, and the tax-exempt research properties at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

"The costs, they're not distributed among all the buildings. Fifty percent of the buildings downtown are paying 100 percent of the tax load," Termini said. "I think everybody should pay something."

In Amherst, nearly 30 percent of property is tax exempt, said Town Assessor Harry Williams.

What if the exemptions didn't exist?

Read more here.

Boston Pushes PILOTs for Nonprofits

Tim Delaney, President & CEO, National Council of Nonprofits, posted to Huffington Post about the recent issue of PILOTS in Boston.

As he relates: Leaders of nonprofit organizations across America were stunned by reports this week in the Boston Globe and NPR's Marketplace that the City of Boston would turn its back on the nonprofit cultural, educational, and health care institutions that have played such vital roles in making that city great.

What stunned nonprofit leaders nationwide is that Boston sent letters essentially mandating that various nonprofits make "Payments-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes" (PILOTs) to the city based on the value of their property, even though Massachusetts law -- like the law in all 50 states -- prohibits local governments from taxing nonprofit property. What in turn shocked nonprofit leaders is how Boston intends to enforce its supposedly "voluntary" PILOT program: with a Scarlet-letter campaign designed to coerce compliance with the city's demand for "voluntary" payments.

Boston has concocted an Orwellian program that uses euphemisms -- such as "PILOTs" instead of "property taxes" and "voluntary" instead of "coerced" -- apparently attempting to hide what is really happening to evade what the law prohibits. The city, knowing the courts would strike down as an illegal act any attempt to directly impose property taxes on charitable nonprofits, invented a program to coerce "voluntary" Payments-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes. But slapping on a misleading label to cover a bad act does not render it any more acceptable; a payment based on property value is still a tax.

To enforce its legally unenforceable program, Boston has threatened to paint a Scarlet letter of shame on every nonprofit that does not comply with the city's demands for payments. Such coercion to obtain what the Commonwealth's law prohibits is outrageous and threatens everyone; who's next, when Boston -- or any government -- wants something the law prohibits?

The city's program also disregards unique aspects of nonprofit law, thus putting coerced nonprofits at risk of running afoul of the Massachusetts Attorney General, who has jurisdiction to oversee that funds donated to nonprofits are used as donors intend. By demanding that nonprofits pay the city 25 percent of their property's tax value, the city is whipsawing nonprofits, putting them in a lose-lose dilemma: either undergo the city's shameful public branding, or cave in to the city's demands to pay, only to have the Massachusetts Attorney General come after the nonprofit if donors complain that they gave their money for purposes other than transfers to the city treasury.

In trying to balance its budget on the backs of people served by charities and those who donate to them, Boston has disregarded not only the law, but also fiscal reality. The recession already has stretched nonprofits too far financially as demands for their services have skyrocketed while their revenues have nosedived, with corporate contributions declining, foundation grants down, and governments delaying payments and not paying full costs on legally-binding contracts. According to the IRS, even individual giving has sagged by 20 percent. Read more here.

Tax Exemptions Eyed as Plug for Budget Gaps

The NY Times reported that faced with steep declines in tax revenue, an increasing number of states and localities are considering eliminating various tax exemptions for nonprofit groups.

A bill before the Hawaii Legislature, for instance, would require charities to pay a 1 percent tax, and Kansas is considering making them subject to sales taxes.

Revoking the nonprofit organizations’ exemptions from property taxes is also under scrutiny in several counties in Kansas, as well as in Pennsylvania.

And last fall, Minneapolis made charities subject to the fees it charges businesses and residents for streetlights in hope of gaining an additional $155,000, an exercise Jon Pratt, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, describes as “looking under the sofa cushions.”

In most cases, churches would be exempt from the tax measures, but all other nonprofit groups, including private schools and colleges, would be affected.

City and state officials say they have no choice.

“We’re having to look at the public services nonprofits use and how we can adequately cover those costs,” said Matt Greller, executive director of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns. “We can’t give them away for free any longer.”

Nonprofit groups say the moves to wring revenue out of them are shortsighted and will produce cutbacks in critical services that governments rely on them to provide, like mental health and emergency foster care services.

“Nonprofits are really hurting in this economy,” said Tim Delaney, chief executive of the National Council of Nonprofits, a trade association. “Their revenues are down, too, and demand for the services they provide, services that government expects them to provide, is way up.” Read more here.

"Controlling the Local Tax Burden-A Dialogue" on Oct. 28

Jamestown's The Post-Journal reported that the Robert H. Jackson Center will host a free continuing legal education seminar titled, "Controlling the Local Tax Burden-A Dialogue" on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Topics to be discussed include The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Progress and Experience with Efforts in Consolidation of Shared Services presented by Stan Lundine, former chair of the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, A Case Study discussion with Steve Abdella, Chautauqua County Attorney and David V. DiTanna, CPA, shareholder of Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro, P.C.; and School and Municipal Governance for the 21st Century presented by Gregory L. Peterson, Esq., Phillips Lytle LLP, Charles Zettek, Vice President and Director of Government Management Services for the Center for Governmental Research of Rochester and Dr. Kathryn Foster, Director of the University at Buffalo Regional Institute.

The program will be immediately followed by a luncheon featuring guest speaker, Shane P. Conlan, former Buffalo Bills linebacker.

Developed primarily as a continuing legal education seminar for attorneys, the seminar will appeal to a cross-disciplinary audience of lawyers, municipal officials, business leaders, school administrators, bankers, non-profit organizations and their board members. Read more here.