Press Releases and Coverage

Opinion Jolyon Thomas Opinion Jolyon Thomas

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.

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News Coverage Jolyon Thomas News Coverage Jolyon Thomas

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. 

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Opinion Amy Offner Opinion Amy Offner

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.

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Opinion Jolyon Thomas Opinion Jolyon Thomas

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.

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