In the most recent legal battle pitting healthcare providers against their hometown governments, two Pennsylvania municipal agencies last month sued two not-for-profit hospital systems. The goal was to regain property taxes by proving the not-for-profits operate very much like for-profits.
It’s played out in state after state. Cash-strapped local officials eye the behemoths taking up blocks of valuable land while paying zero taxes year after year, despite turning a profit. They start questioning what those hospital systems have done for them lately. Health fairs usually don’t cut it.