Philly City Council President proposes tax-alternative for nonprofits

City Council is considering a plan to enlist the help of colleges and universities in the city to help Philadelphia’s public schools.  That assistance would be in lieu of taxes since most property owned by nonprofits is tax-exempt.

Council President Darrell Clarke says instead of coming up with ways to tax them, he wants them to voluntarily help the struggling Philadelphia Public schools.

“We can not be in a situation where we have world-class universitites and have the level of school district that we currently have. That just simply doesn’t make sense,” he said. 

Clarke says the city still needs more state funding to help the schools, but they will work on local assistance for now.