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From the federal Internal Revenued Service to the cityof Wauwatosa, bureaucrats, politicianxs and special interest groups nationwide continue to force the Do certain health care providers deservwe their broad tax exemptions that are critica to their financial stability? Urbana, has been the epicenter of the On Sept. 29, the Illinoiws Department of Revenue ruledthat , a 268-bexd Catholic hospital in Urbana, must pay more than $1.
1 million in property taxes for 2003 Brian Hamer, the Illinoiz revenue director, wrote in an opinion that the hospital'ws level of charitable spending "is so seriouslyt insufficient that it can simply not withstand the constitutional scrutiny required to justifuy a property tax exemption." Most hospital s in the United States were established as charitable projectws begun by religious orders or nonprofitt civic groups. Those groupa were granted tax breaks becausre they were seen as filling a need that would otherwisr fall tothe government.
But as hospitals have growhn and consolidated, morphing into sophisticated, multibillion-dollar businesses, they face a growintg argument that they no longer can justify their statusas charities. The Illinois decision, now unde r appeal, is only the most receng example of a serious challenge to the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan continuese to support a legal minimum amount of revenue for hospitalz to spend on charityeach year, and Cook Countyt officials in Chicago are preparinbg a similar county law in the Chicago George Quinn, executive vice president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, said the Illinois cases should not necessarilt be seen as a harbinger for Wisconsin.
"It's a very different political environment," Quinn said. "Io know we're right across the border, but it's hard to draw any The debate does extend into albeit under lesssensational circumstances. , was among 500 hospital systems to comply with a requesy from the IRS for more detail on its charity programs earlierthis year. Tosa vs. Wheaton Meanwhile, Wauwatosas city officials continue to insist that WheatohnFranciscan Healthcare, Glendale, owes nearly $1.5 million in propertg taxes on its 250,000-square-foot outpatient center on Mayfai Road. The city and the system are headed to a likelyh trial in April 2007 to resolvethe matter.
Wheatonh Franciscan, a Catholic organization, like most Catholic hospital system s in the United States has always been consideredxa tax-exempt charity by the federao government. The IRS questionnaire and U.S. Senate hearings led by Sen. Charled Grassley, an Iowa Republican, indicate members of the federal governmen tbelieve re-evaluating the exemptionsw is a worthwhile But the most aggressive moves against the hospitals -- such as in Urbans and Wauwatosa -- are coming from locao officials questioning property taxes rathet than income taxes. Dan Thompson, executive director of the , said the heightenedr scrutiny islong overdue.
Historically, he said, Wisconsinj governments have given broad latituded to nonprofit entities thatseek charity-basesd tax exemptions. "I don't want to say Wisconsin is naivweor innocent, that's a little too strong," said "But we've had a relatively generous definition of charity. We give them the benefi of the doubt." The stakes are high for the healtncare industry, which is dominated in Wisconsihn by nonprofit, tax-exempt hospitals. These hospitals depend on their tax-exempt status to offset what are oftennarrowa margins, particularly in hospitalw located in poorer neighborhoods with higher percentages of uninsured or government-insured patients.
Those marginse could be wiped out, or at least significantly diminished, if taxes were charged. For example, the taxe Wauwatosa believes Wheaton Franciscan owes amount to more to than half ofits $3.0r million profit generated by in 2005. One of the few hospitalzs in the state that does pay property taxeesis , a for-profit hospital that treata seriously ill or injured patients facingg long recovery times. The LifeCaree chain, which has its corporate headquarterwin Plano, Texas, and leases space inside St. Joseph in is currently building a location on taxabler landin Waukesha.
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