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It's good to see the shift in Mr. Meldahl's thought
that non-profits operate in "secrecy" to a more specific thought that nonprofit
housing providers allegedly don't provide sufficient information to get
government funding. If there is any doubt about the length to which anyone
seeking public subsidies must go to obtain housing finance, check out just one
or two of the forms MHFA requires for multifamily development
applications:
They look for it all, just like (and likely much
more) than a traditional lender does for a private developer.
As for Form 990, it's a valuable public disclosure
source. Just picking a nonprofit that most folks think does good
work--Minneapolis-based Center for Victims of Torture--and you learn the
salaries of its most senior executives, officers, and employees, the amount it
spent in postage ($75,000), how much it receives in speaking fees each year
($12,852), total lobbying expenses ($28,799), the value of an abandoned
copier ($756), and so on and so on. Vague? Perhaps if you are
looking for a smoking gun that ultimately does not exist. As for
disclosing donors, imagine the chilling effect on contributions if all donors
must be disclosed publicly.
On top of that, any nonprofit worth its salt must
be audited each year if it relies on charitable funds from established
donors. So, whille I may understand the desire for more upfront financial
information about a particular housing development, concentrating the battle
against the alleged evil and shadowy nonprofit world isn't worth engaging, as
I'd like the same information about, say, the Urban Village, the Carriage House
Grant Program, and other primarily private developer driven
projects.
That'll be all for me on this, as its gotten beyond
Minneapolis at this point.
Gregory Luce
Project 504/Minneapolis (North
Phillips)
Steve Meldahl wrote:
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- [Mpls] CCHT & non profit disclosure steven meldahl
- Gregory Luce
