In a recent appearance at the Goodman Theater to discuss the arts, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel was asked about whether he would force nonprofits to pay property taxes. Emmanuel responded by saying that nobody is in a sacrifice-free zone including nonprofits.
When contacted for clarification, Emmanuel’s office provided a statement he gave to another reporter last Thursday when he was pressed to explain his position in more detail.
“As you know, I said in the campaign, I’m not raising taxes. The philosophical point is that reform and change comes to everybody. Nobody, not the Mayor’s office, not city council, not institutions, is in a reform or change free zone,” Emmanuel said. “I did not also want to do what typical public servants, and I’m not disparaging other public servants, do which is say to people what they want to hear. I thought I had to tell, which is what I’ve done in the campaign, the hard truths of what we face as a city. … That doesn’t put a buffer up when it comes to reform and change. I wasn’t saying you were going to get property taxes.
“But you heard me: I want to make a bigger point here about my basic philosophical approach. This is, a) nobody is in a reform or change free or sacrifice free zone. … b) I did not want to do what others have done which is just tell you what you want to hear for the sake of being in front of you, which is there will be difficult things to do for one city with one purpose. Everybody gives a little; nobody has to give too much.”
The leaders of a number of LGBT nonprofits in the city were contacted to weigh in on this latest development. “We are already trying to do more with less,” said the Rev. Stan Sloan, CEO of Chicago House, adding, “With the economy the way it is adding on property tax costs along with the state and local level cuts that have already occurred it will hinder our ability to serve an ever increasing number of people that need our services.”
Kim Hunt, executive director of Affinity Community Services, said, “Nonprofits are keenly aware of the difficult choices that have to be made in times of financial crisis. Like many organizations, Affinity Community Services has had to scale back on its programming, defer trainings and other resources for staff, and ask for more support from our constituents during the last few years.”
“While it is understandable that Mayor-elect Emanuel will want to leave no stone unturned in the quest to bring the city’s budget back in balance, the reality is that imposing property taxes on all nonprofits, without exception, can make it very difficult for smaller organizations to survive and/or build the capacity to have greater impact on the communities they serve. Nationally, over 80 percent of nonprofits have budgets of under a million dollars. Few of them actually own property. These aren’t universities or megachurches. These are organizations like Affinity. As organizations like us look to relocate, we need every leverage point we can find to ensure that we get the best space possible to do our best work with current capacity and have room to grow.”