WASHINGTON -- Municipalities need money. Nonprofit institutions have money. Municipalities go after that money. That’s how David L. Thompson, vice president for public policy for the National Council of Nonprofits, described the current set of debates about payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT), agreements that property-tax-exempt nonprofits -- often under duress from local officials -- strike with local governments to help municipalities balance their budgets. Thompson, whose organization opposes PILOT agreements, was condemning the practices that local governments have used recently to extract agreements from nonprofit organizations. Thompson was speaking as part of a daylong series of panels hosted Monday by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank here, to discuss the current political and policy debates surrounding tax-exempt institutions and PILOT agreements. PILOT agreements have been in the news in recent years as municipalities, struggling with budget imbalances resulting from the economic downturn and increased pension and health care obligations, have attempted to renegotiate agreements or strike new ones. The push has led to contentious fights in several cities, including Pittsburgh and Providence, R.I.
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