Minnesota Legislature: Non-profit groups benefit from bill. Don Davis. Bemidji Pioneer. (March, 2009)
Non-profit organizations, county assessors and the state have crafted a compromise that could allow charities to continue being exempt from property taxes. ...

Testing the Limits: Minn. child-care center's fight for tax break ignites major charity lobbying effort. Suzanne Perry. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. (February, 2009). (account needed.)
When Michelle Finholdt applied for a property-tax exemption for the nonprofit child-care center that she built in Red Wing, Minn., in 2003, she had no idea she would create a huge stir. ...

MCN revs up to clarify property-tax exemption. Scott Russell. MinnPost. (December, 2008).
Marcia Avner, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofit's (MCN's) public policy director, already has her top three priorities for the Feb. 5 Day on the Hill: "Pass the tax exemption. Pass the tax exemption. Pass the tax exemption."

The nonprofit world must stand up for itself. Alan J. Abramson and Lester M. Salamon. Chronicle of Philanthropy. (August, 2008). (subscription needed.)
When Minnesota's highest court denied tax-exempt status to a child-care center, it sent shudders throughout the nonprofit world. ...

Nonprofits receive reprieve on property tax issue. Tom Weber. Minnesota Public Radio. (June 23, 2008).
Nonprofit groups in Minnesota have gotten a one-year reprieve on the question of whether they might have to pay taxes on the property they own. ...

Nonprofits' tax exemptions increasingly under fire. Peter Blank, Editor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter; Joan Pryde, Senior Tax Editor, the Kiplinger letters. Kiplinger Business Resource Center. (June 17, 2008).
Tax breaks for nonprofit groups are facing heightened scrutiny from all levels of government because of concerns that some exempt organizations are primarily moneymaking operations that don't live up to the purposes for which they received their special tax status in the first place. ...

Tax exemptions of charities face new challenges. Stephanie Strom. The New York Times. (May 26, 2008).
Authorities from the local tax assessor to members of Congress are increasingly challenging the tax-exempt status of nonprofit institutions — ranging from small group homes to wealthy universities — questioning whether they deserve special treatment. ...

Nonprofits hope to regain property, sales tax exemptions. Marisa Helms, Bemidji Pioneer. (March 22, 2008).
The Minnesota Supreme Court delivered Michelle Finholdt news that is considered bad by far more nonprofit organizations than just the Red Wing day care center owner. ...

Nonprofits battle court tax ruling. Marisa Helms, Duluth News Tribune. (March 20, 2008).
The Minnesota Supreme Court delivered Michelle Finholdt news that is considered bad by far more nonprofit organizations than just the Red Wing day care center owner. ...

Clarity sought on tax exemptions for nonprofits. Scott Russell. MinnPost.com. (March 10, 2008).
When the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in December that a nonprofit child-care center in Red Wing didn't qualify for a property tax exemption, it set off alarms among the state's nonprofits. ...

Court decision looms over CCSI. Kari Lucin. Worthington Daily Globe. (March 8, 2008).
A State of Minnesota Supreme Court decision made in December 2007 could mean the first-ever property tax bill of $72,000 for local nonprofit CCSI, which owns and operates group homes for people with disabilities. ...

Moratorium on taxing nonprofits proposed. Natasha R. Orrick. Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. (March 5, 2008).
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the state department of revenue have agreed on legislation for a moratorium that would allow nonprofits to remain exempt from paying property and sales taxes through next summer. ...

Nonprofits seek new legislation to clarify their status. Tom Weber. Minnesota Public Radio. (January 25, 2008).
A recent ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court has left a number of non-profit organizations wondering whether they might soon have to pay property taxes on the buildings that they own.

Non-profits may lose property tax exemption. Toni Randolph. Minnesota Public Radio. (December 20, 2007).
Up until two weeks ago, the folks that run the Nexus juvenile sex offender treatment center in Mille Lacs County were not worried about paying property taxes on the new $14 million residential facility they are building. ...

Nonprofits seek to reverse Minn. Supreme Court ruling. Toni Randolph. Minnesota Public Radio. (December 11, 2007).
About 60 nonprofit groups have agreed to work together to find a way to reverse a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling on property tax exemptions for charities.

Minnesota Supreme Court: Day care isn't charity. Emily Gurnon. St. Paul Pioneer Press (December 7, 2007).
In a decision that could affect nonprofit organizations statewide, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a group must provide goods or services free or at considerably reduced rates to qualify as a "purely public charity" exempt from property taxes. If the entity charges close to market rates for services, that may be evidence it is not giving anything away, "a value fundamental to the concept of charity," the high court said....

Questions? Comments? Contact Jeannie Fox at jeannie@mncn.org.