Ruthanne Fuller

Jennifer Levitz writes in the Wall Street Journal (look to your right for the article) about the tension between large nonprofits who use city services like police and fire but as nonprofits are exempt from paying property taxes. They use City services but don't pay for them.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island recently signed legislation that grants the town of Smithfield, RI, " ... the ability to charge private Bryant University an annual fee for taxpayer-funded police, fire and rescue response. The law may be the first of its kind, and the university's president has said he plans to challenge it in court."

The article goes on to say, " ... public sentiment has begun to shift over granting special [tax] status to nonprofits - especially large institutions with healthy endowments - when local budgets are squeezed."

In Newton, Boston College and Newton-Wellesley Hospital have long been considered ripe targets for payments in lieu of taxes (known as PILOTs). PILOTs are voluntary or negotiated payments made by tax-exempt organizations to local governments.