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Tax the Rich (Universities)!
Imagine how much more money we could have for vital social programs for our nation if we taxed endowments? Harvard’s is $53 billion and, because it’s invested in the stock market, growing tax-free. Yale’s endowment grew by 40 percent this year, making it worth more than $42 billion. “Tax-free” makes it sound like there are no costs to such endowments, but they’re actually tax subsidized by us, the taxpayers.
Penn to invest $4 million in West Philly’s Lea Elementary, says it will work with community
Penn has faced criticism in the past for choosing not to make payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs, to Philadelphia schools. “Students at Lea deserve a quality education, and students at every school in the public school system in Philadelphia deserve quality education,” said Amy C. Offner, associate professor in Penn’s history department and a member of Penn for PILOTs, a group of Penn faculty and staff that advocates the PILOT arrangement.
If Penn wants to invest in a public school, Philly should invest in public housing
What should we do? Should we take what Penn is giving and shrug our shoulders at market forces beyond our control? No. Should we refuse the money and improvements that our school so desperately needs? Yes, actually. I advocate that the school district only accept financial assistance on a district-wide basis, and that Penn pay PILOTs.
A broken education system requires more than one-off investments from billion-dollar institutions
When universities like Drexel and Penn cherry-pick the communities that they want to invest in, gentrification follows, and low-income families lose out.
Tax Wealthy Private Universities Now
Elite universities like Harvard and Penn are using their tax-exempt status to rob public coffers blind. The solution is easy: tax them.
Hospitals and medical institutions see inequity every day. Why aren’t they spending more to help?
There’s precedent for more direct financial contributions than loosely defined “community benefit”: After Penn for PILOTS drew attention to Penn’s lack of tax payments for years, Penn committed $100 million in 2020 to the Philadelphia School District.
Interview with Jolyon Thomas
In our minds, the best thing for the university to do is to pay 40 percent of its forgone property taxes to the city of Philadelphia under a contractual relationship, where that is understood to happen not only now, and not only ten years from now, but for as many years as the University of Pennsylvania exists in Philadelphia… Let me just reiterate here: all Philadelphians are giving Penn a gift every year by choosing not to tax Penn’s property. So Penn can pay back that gift by paying some of those forgone property taxes as a way of lifting all boats.
Opinion: The call for PILOTs is a call for wealthy nonprofits to invest in justice rather than charity
Teachers, staff, parents, and the wider community already give what we can to elevate the brilliance of our students within a system that is steeped in inequities. Teachers spend hundreds of dollars in pocket money each year; parents who raise money to fund their own libraries perpetuate an inequitable practice; and a cash-strapped district continues to slash school budgetsin a time of crisis. These imperfect, band-aid solutions are not sustainable, and our children deserve more.
Protesters again push Drexel, Penn to pay PILOTs to Philly public schools
Over 100 students, teachers, and community members marched through Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania’s campuses last week calling on both schools to make payments in lieu of taxes to support the School District of Philadelphia.