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Groups Target Law Allowing non-profit hospitals to shelter for-profit partners and ventures on their campuses tax-free

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, an alliance of New Jersey advocacy organizations working with impacted state residents announced intervention in an ongoing lawsuit to stop the implementation of a recently passed state law exempting non-profit hospitals from property taxation even if for-profit business is conducted on hospital property. Plaintiff interveners NJ Citizen Action and the American Federation of Teachers NJ (AFTNJ) argue the law violates the State Constitution’s uniformity and exemption clauses.

Continue reading Groups Target Law Allowing non-profit hospitals to shelter for-profit partners and ventures on their campuses tax-free

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Judicial Watch Obtains IRS Documents Revealing McCain’s Subcommittee Staff Director Urged IRS to Engage in “Financially Ruinous” Targeting of Tea Party Groups

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McCain minority staff director Henry Kerner to IRS official Lois Lerner and other IRS officials: “the solution is to audit so many that it becomes financially ruinous”

July 17,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, Judicial Watch today released newly obtained internal IRS documents, including material revealing that Sen. John McCain’s former staff director and chief counsel on the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee, Henry Kerner, urged top IRS officials, including then-director of exempt organizations Lois Lerner, to “audit so many that it becomes financially ruinous.” Kerner was appointed by President Trump as Special Counsel for the United States Office of Special Counsel.

The explosive exchange was contained in notes taken by IRS employees at an April 30, 2013, meeting between Kerner, Lerner, and other high-ranking IRS officials. Just ten days following the meeting, former IRS director of exempt organizations Lois Lerner admitted that the IRS had a policy of improperly and deliberately delaying applications for tax-exempt status from conservative non-profit groups.
Lerner and other IRS officials met with select top staffers from the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in a “marathon” meeting to discuss concerns raised by both Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that the IRS was not reining in political advocacy groups in response to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. Senator McCain had been the chief sponsor of the McCain-Feingold Act and called the Citizens United decision, which overturned portions of the Act, one of the “worst decisions I have ever seen.”

In the full notes of an April 30 meeting, McCain’s high-ranking staffer Kerner recommends harassing non-profit groups until they are unable to continue operating. Kerner tells Lerner, Steve Miller, then chief of staff to IRS commissioner, Nikole Flax, and other IRS officials, “Maybe the solution is to audit so many that it is financially ruinous.” In response, Lerner responded that “it is her job to oversee it all:”
Henry Kerner asked how to get to the abuse of organizations claiming section 501 (c)(4) but designed to be primarily political. Lois Lerner said the system works, but not in real time. Henry Kerner noted that these organizations don’t disclose donors. Lois Lerner said that if they don’t meet the requirements, we can come in and revoke, but it doesn’t happen timely. Nan Marks said if the concern is that organizations engaging in this activity don’t disclose donors, then the system doesn’t work. Henry Kerner said that maybe the solution is to audit so many that it is financially ruinous. Nikole noted that we have budget constraints. Elise Bean suggested using the list of organizations that made independent expenditures. Lois Lerner said that it is her job to oversee it all, not just political campaign activity.

Judicial Watch previously reported on the 2013 meeting. Senator McCain then issued a statement decrying “false reports claiming that his office was somehow involved in IRS targeting of conservative groups.” The IRS previously blacked out the notes of the meeting but Judicial Watch found the notes among subsequent documents released by the agency.

Judicial Watch separately uncovered that Lerner was under significant pressure from both Democrats in Congress and the Obama DOJ and FBI to prosecute and jail the groups the IRS was already improperly targeting. In discussing pressure from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat-Rhode Island) to prosecute these “political groups,” Lerner admitted, “it is ALL about 501(c)(4) orgs and political activity.”
The April 30, 2013 meeting came just under two weeks prior to Lerner’s admission during an ABA meeting that the IRS had “inappropriately” targeted conservative groups. In her May 2013 answer to a planted question, in which she admitted to the “absolutely incorrect, insensitive, and inappropriate” targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups, Lerner suggested the IRS targeting occurred due to an “uptick” in 501 (c)(4) applications to the IRS but in actuality, there had been a decrease in such applications in 2010.

On May 14, 2013, a report by Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration revealed: “Early in Calendar Year 2010, the IRS began using inappropriate criteria to identify organizations applying for tax-exempt status” (e.g., lists of past and future donors). The illegal IRS reviews continued “for more than 18 months” and “delayed processing of targeted groups’ applications” in advance of the 2012 presidential election.
All these documents were forced out of the IRS as a result of an October 2013 Judicial Watch Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the IRS after it failed to respond adequately to four FOIA requests sent in May 2013 (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Internal Revenue Service (No. 1:13-cv-01559)). Judicial Watch is seeking:

All records related to the number of applications received or related to communications between the IRS and members of the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate regarding the review process for organizations applying for tax exempt status under 501(c)(4);
All records concerning communications between the IRS and the Executive Branch or any other government agency regarding the review process for organizations applying for tax exempt status under 501(c)(4);
Copies of any questionnaires and all records related to the preparation of questionnaires sent to organizations applying for 501(c)(4) tax exempt status.
All records related to Lois Lerner’s communication with other IRS employees, as well as government or private entity outside the IRS regarding the review and approval process for 501 (c)(4) applicant organizations.
“The Obama IRS scandal is bipartisan – McCain and Democrats who wanted to regulate political speech lost at the Supreme Court, so they sought to use the IRS to harass innocent Americans,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The Obama IRS scandal is not over – as Judicial Watch continues to uncover smoking gun documents that raise questions about how the Obama administration weaponized the IRS, the FEC, FBI, and DOJ to target the First Amendment rights of Americans.”

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Ridgewood One of Many New Jersey Towns to Sue Hospitals Over Property Taxes

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August 20,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, In April Ridgewood joined over two dozen other municipalities, including Teaneck, Englewood, Wayne, Paterson, Pequannock and North Bergen challenging the tax exempt status of their local hospital

Like Ridgewood many of these municipalities are looking for new sources of cash to lower their high property taxes, local officials have now filed tax appeals challenging the tax-exempt status of 35 nonprofit hospitals according to NJ Advance Media for NJ.com .

The litigation continues to gain momentum in response to last year’s precedent-setting tax court ruling and settlement which required Morristown Medical Center to pay Morristown $15.5 million in lieu of property taxes. The judge in that case found the hospital operated like a for-profit entity and should share the cost of public safety and other municipal services.

While the Morristown case took 5 years to see it through ,so far two of the 35 cases have been settled already, resulting in additional revenue for the city of Elizabeth and Edison Township.

The settlements have already paid off for local taxpayers.The property tax rate has declined in Morristown by 2 cents this year, as a direct result of the “historic” agreement reached with Morristown Medical Center’s parent company, Atlantic Health Systems.

Ridgewood has quietly pursued Valley Hospital on the same grounds .It has been often repeated that Valley’s current 15 1/2-acre main campus would owe about $4.5 million in taxes if it were fully assessed. That is before the major increase in size by the proposed renovation double its size .

The N.J. Hospital Association says the tax-exempt status of these hospitals have been challenged:

Clara Maass Medical Center (Belleville)
Jersey City Medical Center (Jersey City)
Monmouth Medical Center (Long Branch)
Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus (Lakewood)
Saint Barnabas Medical Center (Livingston)
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (Newark)
Holy Name Medical Center (Teaneck)
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center (Englewood)
Hunterdon Medical Center (Raritan Township)
Bayshore Community Hospital (Holmdel)
Hackensack UMC Palisades (North Bergen)
Jersey Shore University Medical Center (Neptune)
Raritan Bay Medical Center (Old Bridge)
Raritan Bay Medical Center (Perth Amboy)
Riverview Medical Center (Red Bank)
Chilton Medical Center (Pequannock)
Overlook Medical Center (Summit)
Newton Memorial Hospital (Newton)
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (Rahway)
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick)
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset (Somerville)
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (Hamilton)
Trinitas Regional Medical Center (Elizabeth)
CentraState Medical Center (Freehold)
Virtua Memorial Hospital (Moorestown)
St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center (Paterson)
St. Joseph’s Hospital Wayne (Wayne)
JFK Health (Edison)
Shore Memorial Hospital (Somers Point)
The Valley Hospital (Ridgewood)
Capital Health (Hopewell)
Kennedy University Hospital (Stratford)
AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center City Campus (Atlantic City)
AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Mainland Campus (Galloway)
Princeton Healthcare System (Plainsboro & Princeton)

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Ridgewood Sues Valley Hospital to Strip it of its Tax Exempt Status

Valleywood theridgewoodblog.net 1
April 7,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Finally the Village of Ridgewood has now joined over two dozen other municipalities, including Teaneck, Englewood, Wayne, Paterson, Pequannock and North Bergen challenging the tax exempt status of their local hospital .

According to the Bergen Record ,”Valley’s 15 1/2-acre main campus would owe about $4.5 million in taxes if it were fully assessed, according to Michael Barker, the village tax assessor.”

Since a landmark ruling in 2015 stripped Morristown Medical Center of its property-tax exemption. Many towns in New Jersey have begun looking into stripping local non profit hospitals of their tax exempt status and for Ridgewood its about time !

Lets face it for many years Valley hospital have enjoyed the services that the Village of Ridgewood has provide to them. For example police and fire response to alarms, thefts investigation altercation.

Many readers do know that when other towns bring someone to the hospital they do not stay with the patient. If the patient becomes combative or unruly the Ridgewood police have to respond and remain until the situation is resolved.

Although not well publicized, theft from patients, Doctors and Valley Hospital do occur with some frequency. These incidents are investigated by the Ridgewood Police and are added to the reported crime statistics of Ridgewood.
The fact that Valley Hospital feels that they need to” Renew” or expand indicates that the response of the police and fire will only increase. If indeed Valley Hospital feels that they are part of the community then why not pay their fair share. Why would the Village of Ridgewood have to sue them for taxes .
It is time that all parties should sit down and settle this as a real community partners.  The Village and the hospital would gain more credibility if this was done in transparent and fair way. Maybe it is time to put the past aside and make Valley a real partner in the community.
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North Bergen to sue Palisades General Medical Center over tax exempt status ,Valley in Ridgewood Could be Next

Valleywood_theridgewoodblog

BY NICHOLAS PUGLIESE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

North Bergen is poised to file a lawsuit challenging the tax exempt status of Palisades General Medical Center and The Harborage nursing home, whose 8.6-acre campus overlooking the Hudson River is some of the most expensive real estate in the world.

The filing, which the township’s Board of Commissioners approved Wednesday, comes on the heels of a precedent-setting Tax Court decision last summer in which a judge ruled that the non-profit Morristown Medical Center was not entitled to its property-tax exemption because its operations were little different from those of a for-profit company.

The ruling, and a subsequent $15.5 million settlement between Morristown and the hospital, raised the specter of a flood of legal challenges by cash-strapped municipalities seeking property taxes or payments in lieu of taxes from the 63 non-profit hospitals statewide. The state Legislature passed a bill in early January that would have circumvented more lawsuits by requiring non-profit hospitals to contribute financially to their hometowns based on the number of beds they have, but Gov. Christie vetoed it later that month without explanation.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/north-bergen-to-sue-palisades-general-medical-center-over-tax-exempt-status-1.1517051

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Reader says The IRS sent the RBSA a loss of tax exempt status in 2011

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Reader says The IRS sent the RBSA a loss of tax exempt status in 2011

According to the IRS website, a letter went to every organization that had lost its tax-exempt status due to failure to file forms. This letter was sent in 2011. Somebody at the RBSA received it…and filed it.

When the treasurer took off some years ago, wouldn’t the president have been expected to find somebody to review the books and make sure everything was in good shape?

This didn’t happen yesterday, either.