Letter to the Editor from Hanley Bodek

On PILOTs

Dear Daily Pennsylvanian,

Count me in as one alumnus in favor of PILOTs (Payment in Lieu of Taxes). Assuming your Nov. 11 article is correct and the city would be satisfied with a $6.6 million per year payment, that sounds like a bargain to me.

$6.6 million is one tenth of one percent of our gross annual revenue, represents less than one tenth of one percent of our endowment and is less than one half of one percent of the University’s 2014 tax-free return on the same endowment.

Further, if the University’s $2 billion of real estate was taxed at the rate most property owners are (1.3998 percent), the annual bill would be $28 million (in reality, the University’s real estate is worth more than $2 billion).

In addition, as I understand it, the University does not pay sales tax, income tax, capital gains tax or use and occupancy tax either. The City is merely asking to be partially reimbursed for services Penn uses and needs: schools, police, fire, courts, streets, among others. You name it; we use it.

Let’s pay this bill tomorrow with a smile before we are assessed what we really owe. The climate has changed. Part of Penn’s success is because of Philadelphia, not in spite of it.

The City is facing a plethora of problems and issues, some of which can be solved with dollars. This is our opportunity to once again use our substantial resources to give back to our City, in a small way, and help fuel the next stage in Philadelphia’s development. This will be beneficial to both the City and the University.

Let’s do our part.

Sincerely,

Hanley P. Bodek

College of Arts and Sciences, Class of 1977

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