You pay taxes, they don’t.

Baltimore’s wealthiest tax-exempt hospitals and universities barely pay for city services that they use. The people of Baltimore deserve a payment agreement that is With Us and For Us!

Background:

We all pay taxes so that we can live in a city that takes care of its people, parks, schools, and so much more. But behind closed doors in 2016, the wealthiest tax-exempt hospitals and universities signed an agreement with the city that lets them pay only $6 million instead of the $110 million they would owe in property taxes. While they only pay a $6 million contribution, they use $47 million in city services every year. This means everyday Baltimoreans have to pay the cost of this $41 million tax gap while struggling to receive quality city services.

The 14 institutions in the current Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) agreement include:

Between 2016-2022, these institutions collected more than $2.9 billion in operating income.Their PILOT contribution over that same period totaled $42 million-- only 1.57% of their total operating income.

Property tax is about ⅓ of the revenue for Baltimore City.The City of Baltimore has not reassessed the contributions of nonprofit institutions since 2016 and, since then, the property tax funding revenue needed for public schools, public health, roads, parks, and other public services like transit, utilities, and housing have only increased;

Raising the contributions of tax-exempt private hospitals and universities, which are large property owners, will generate necessary funds to address the tax gap and invest in the cornerstones of social and economic stability in our city.

Compared to cities like Boston, Providence, and New Haven, Baltimore’s PILOT agreement is far behind in calling for a fair and transparent contribution – Yale University is paying the city of New Haven 9 times more than 14 of Baltimore's anchor institutions combined.

What we are asking:

The With Us For Us coalition is a coalition of community advocates, students, and labor unions, formed November 2023 and aims to hold our tax exempt hospitals and universities in Baltimore City accountable to pay their fair share, address the stark wealth disparity, and strengthen the city’s community wealth building ecosystem (initiatives that foster community ownership of land, housing, and business).

Since the last PILOT agreement was made behind closed doors, we are proposing a Baltimore City Fair Share PILOT Taskforce that includes community and labor stakeholders, representatives from the hospitals and universities, and representatives from the mayor and city council. Their responsibilities include:

• Set a standard formula by which level of contributions will be determined based on city service utilization and assessed property tax value

• Develop a methodology for valuing a corporate citizen set-off and a payment negotiation system that centers community and worker needs.

• Clarify and quantify the costs associated with providing City services to tax-exempt institutions.

• Provide recommendations on legislative changes needed at the City or state level, including changes in the allocation of PILOT funding to community needs.

• Provide ongoing public reports on the status of annual payments of each institution as well as their corporate citizen commitment   to the Baltimore community and their institution’s workforce.

Sign this petition to support the Baltimore City Fair Share PILOT Task Force legislation, and to make wealthy institutions pay their fair share into the 2026 PILOT agreement.