Allentown slaps nonprofits with business tax; one hits back with lawsuit

Anne Gingerich, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, said she has not seen a municipality charge a business privilege tax to a nonprofit in her five-year tenure with the organization.

Nonprofits are exempt from taxes for a reason, Gingerich said — so they can fulfill their missions and provide benefits to the community.

“These kinds of taxes take away the ability to serve the under-served,” she said.

In the case of the large health networks, the same principle is true, Gingerich said.

“These networks are large, but then they also have larger chunks of money to contribute,” she said.