Tax Exemption

Just for the record - and just in case anyone in the audience is starting to get teary-eyed about Black & Decker or ticked off that Maryland's alleged "anti-business climate" will result in the loss of yet another good corporate citizen - I would like to add a few items that were left out of the historic "time line" published in this newspaper on Tuesday. Allow me to fill in a four-year gap in our accounting: January 2000: Black & Decker reports record sales and net earnings from the previous year - $300.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing the NAACP, scrutinizing the nation's oldest civil rights group after its chairman gave a stinging criticism of the Bush administration in a speech this summer. Julian Bond's July 11 comments at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's convention in Philadelphia chastised President Bush for being the first sitting president since Herbert Hoover not to address the group. Bush declined the group's invitation to speak, while Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry accepted.

The judge said his heart was with the Baltimore Chronicle i the community newspaper's fight against the big-city dailies and the state comptroller's office. The law, however, was not.Accordingly, the ma-and-pa paper was turned down yesterday in its bid for an exemption from about $8,000 in back sales taxes, a tab that the paper's owners say could muffle the paper's alternative voice."I have to suppress my own ideas in making this ruling," Chief Judge Robert I. H. Hammerman said during a hearing yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court.

When deciding whether or not to extend a 100 percent property tax credit to six nonprofit pools council members must consider the nature of some county swim clubs. Granting a tax credit simply because certain pools are considered nonprofits that serve the community is a misnomer. One pool seeking to benefit from the proposal completely renovated their clubhouse in addition to investing in other significant, and costly, cosmetic upgrades. While certain renovations may certainly be necessary, a cash-strapped pool "really struggling to stay afloat" should not misappropriate money for excessive enhancements while neglecting to reserve funds for fundamental operations.

It's an old city, home to wealthy, renowned universities that own huge swaths of tax-exempt property that would otherwise generate revenue for police, fire protection, street repairs and so forth. So Cambridge, Mass., did the sensible thing. Decades ago, it got Harvard and MIT to agree to "payments in lieu of tax," known as PILOTs, to support their local community. Boston gets similar revenue from the universities. Why the Johns Hopkins University and its affiliates aren't making such payments to Baltimore is beyond me. Hopkins is a huge asset for Baltimore.

Certain appliances that meet Energy Star requirements will be exempt from Maryland sales tax from Feb. 19 through Feb. 21, the state comptroller's office has announced. During the "Shop Maryland Energy" weekend, consumers who buy Energy Star air conditioners, clothes washers, furnaces, heat pumps, boilers, standard size refrigerators, dehumidifiers and compact fluorescent light bulbs will not pay sales tax in Maryland stores or online. Dishwashers are not eligible, even if they meet Energy Star specifications.

More than 6,700 small nonprofits in Maryland could lose their tax-exempt status unless they file tax returns for past few years by Oct. 15, according to the IRS. It used to be that small nonprofits with $25,000 or less in income didn't have to file a federal return. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 changed that. The agency made a variety of efforts to contact the groups, including sending letters in 2006 and 2007 to the last-known addresses of these organizations, said Jim Dupree, IRS spokesman in Baltimore.

Soccer clubs, PTAs, community associations, a temperance union and inactive foundations belonging to a couple of Baltimore sport legends are among the thousands of Maryland groups that have had their tax-exempt status revoked by the Internal Revenue Service. About 275,000 organizations nationwide — including nearly 6,200 in Maryland — lost their tax-favored status last week for failing to file annual returns for three years in a row. The IRS says it believes the vast majority of them are defunct.

A bill to create a property tax exemption for developers who convert old downtown Baltimore office buildings to residences won final General Assembly approval yesterday.If signed by the governor as expected, the legislation will allow the exemption for commercial properties that are at least 25 years old and have been at least 75 percent vacant for at least three years.The measure, which was proposed by Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, is part of a package of bills being pushed this year to encourage such conversions.

The Harford County Council is considering exempting the owner of at least one home near the Scarboro Landfill from paying property taxes.County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann and Councilman Barry T. Glassman, R-District D, made the proposal Tuesday night at the council's regularly scheduled meeting.The bill calls for exempting the owner of a home near a county landfill with an active operating permit if the structure is within 500 feet of the fill. To qualify for the exemption, the property owner also would have to live in the house, and the home would have to have been built before June 30, 1988.