Image credit: Jeff Hopkins/CityLaw
On a daily basis I am reminded that seemingly everyone loves to talk about taxis. Last year between the Daily News, the Post and Times, there were over 2,000 articles mentioning taxis, which transport about a million people a day – yet only about 3,000 articles mentioning subways which transport six-million people a day. Travelers and New Yorkers are clearly disproportionally obsessed with taxis.
Assuming that what people ask me is representative of what’s on the public’s mind, I figure a good place to start is Uber. What is Uber? Is it an app? A technology company? A car service? A transportation network? Is it legal? Is it a noun or a verb? And what is it doing in New York City?
(read more…)
Lincoln Center, with properties valued at $1.1 billion, is exempt from property tax as a cultural institution. Image credit: Matthew Bisanz
A long-standing feature of American tax policy is the exemption granted to nonprofit organizations, the largest of which is the exemption from local property taxes. The exemption, with origins back to the 18th century, is widespread. Among the 50 states, 17 state constitutions mandate property tax exemptions for charitable organizations, 25 authorize the legislature to give exemptions, and eight do not address the issue. New York State establishes two classes of exemptions for nonprofits: mandatory property tax exemptions apply to religious, educational, hospital, mental health and certain other charitable institutions; permissive exemptions are given to most other nonprofits, but localities may remove them. New York City has not passed any limiting local legislation.
(read more…)
