$705 Million in St. Joseph County Property is Untaxed

by Dustin Grove (grove@wsbt.com)

Tools

$705 Million in St. Joseph County Property is Untaxed

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Aug 28, 2007 at 4:16 PM EST

Story Updated: Dec 21, 2007 at 12:45 AM EST

(WSBT) St. Joseph Regional Medical Center has been a downtown landmark for decades. Its campus spans more than 20 acres. And like other not-for-profit organizations, it does not pay taxes on it.

Multimedia

Watch The Video

Last year, under state law, from big hospitals to neighborhood VFWs and from churches to neighborhood organizations, $705 million went untaxed in St. Joseph County.

Now, as local governments across the state wrestle with property tax problems and protests, some wonder if some not-for-profits shouldn't be charged something.

"A lot of not-for-profit entities still use the services that the city or the county provides: police, fire, health department inspections,” said St. Joseph County Commissioner Mark Dobson.

Dobson says he supports talking about a possible fee for some not-for-profits who use some of those public services. Twelve other northern Indiana commissioners from five counties asked for the same thing last week in a letter to the governor about property taxes.

They suggested taking a closer look at not-for-profits and asked state officials to consider “tax levies or other assessments for certain core services available to properties otherwise exempt (for example, fire, police, road and street maintenance, etc.).”

Local non-for profits, though, say it's important to look at the bigger picture.

"They provide some really vital services," said Mark Eagan, board member of United Way of St. Joseph County. “So are we getting property tax? No. But are we getting a lot of other benefits, direct or indirect? The answer is obviously yes."

If St. Joseph Regional Medical Center paid property taxes on its South Bend campus, Chief Operating Officer Lori Price said the bill would have been about $13 million. That’s enough to fund more than half the county police budget. But Price said the hospital spent $22 million in charity.

“You have to look at the bigger picture. If you only focus on one part of it you miss the bigger picture, and you're going to miss those who are poor and under-served in our community, and if we don't address the needs of that community, the results could be worse,” said Price.

The idea of a “payment in lieu of taxes,” as it’s also been called, is not new and it’s not just being discussed in Indiana. Lawmakers in Maine are considering a bill that would let local governments charge public safety fees to not-for-profit groups who bring in more than $10 million a year.

More Good Stuff

WSBT Weather

Current Temp 45.5

More Weather

WSBT Weather

More Weather

On Demand

iPhone
Get the WSBT News and Irish Sports Report apps for your iPhone! Read more »
On DVD
Order a DVD of a WSBT news story! Read more »
Twitter
Follow us on Twitter! Read more »
Facebook
Connect with us on Facebook! Read more »
WSBT E-News
Daily StormTracker e-mails right to your Inbox! Read more »
Video On Demand
Miss a story on WSBT News? Watch it here! Read more »
CBS Shows
Watch CBS shows and news online, free! Read more »
WSBT Alert
Breaking News & Weather right to your cell phone! Read more »
Mobile
WSBT News on the go for your cell phone or PDA. Read more »
RSS Feeds
Get news and updates as soon as they're published. Read more »

Stock Quotes

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.