‘Non-Profit’ or Billion-Dollar Corporation?

According to the Adams County Auditor’s office, The Nature Conservancy owns 20,000 acres in Adams County. If this land were privately owned, our county would collect $750,724 in property taxes each year; the same taxes Adams County landowners are expected to pay. $462,547 of those funds would go to our schools, and $204,871 toward County expenses, including roads and bridges. Instead, since it’s a “Non-Profit”, The Nature Conservancy paid zero property taxes. How can this be, and is it fair?

To encourage charitable organizations like churches, hospitals and schools to provide public services, the Ohio Constitution was amended in 1924 to exempt non-profits from paying property taxes. In 1970, groups like The Nature Conservancy lobbied the Ohio legislature to pass ORC 5709.09, which added “nature preserves” to the list of tax-exempt entities. Ever since, groups like The Nature Conservancy, Arc of Appalachia and the Cincinnati Museum Center have amassed huge portions of Adams County, removing them from the tax rolls.

We’re told that “Non-Profits” like The Nature Conservancy are special, because they “promote conservation and environmental protection”, and provide “research, education, and public access to natural resources”. Theoretically they draw significant tourism dollars to our county. Does this entitle them to free-load on Adams County taxpayers? The answer may be found in The Nature Conservancy’s publicly available 2023 Federal Income Tax Return. From it we learn that they are a billion dollar worldwide enterprise.

In 2023 they took in $1.1 billion in donations and $109 million in investment income. Their top executives each make over $900,000 annually, enjoying luxurious Washington DC lifestyles. Their total 2023 payroll was $550 million, including $28 million in pension payments to ex-employees and $652,377 to their former CFO. They spent $2.5 Million for professional lobbyists to influence public officials.

In 2023 their net worth grew $280 million, to over $9.5 billion in assets, including $145 million in cash and savings. They paid professional money managers $23 million to manage their $3.4 billion investment portfolio. To raise more cash, they spent $28 million on professional fundraisers. They donated $64 million outside the USA to governments, organizations and individuals, but somehow they can’t afford to pay a single dollar of Adams County property tax.

They did publish, on December 10 of this year, a press release announcing $100K in grants and scholarships for Adams County. To qualify, students or non-profit groups must be focused on the environment, or “woke” goals like renewable energy, “food security”, education programs, and “reducing disparities”, for “groups disproportionately impacted because of their race, income level, gender, sexual orientation, mental health, veteran status, or physical and developmental disability”. The deadline for applying was December 9.

There are also some token payments to individual townships. My own township received $268 this year, almost enough to buy a half-truckload of gravel. The Nature Conservancy requested a ceremonial photo-op with the township’s fiscal offer, to present this check.

I’ll leave it to Defender readers to judge whether The Nature Conservancy’s worldwide empire deserves special tax treatment, in our county or any other. The answer is obvious to me.

An Adams County resident since 1997, Steve Boehme is a local Adams County businessman and political commentator, who published the Adams County CROSSROADS magazine from 2005 until 2019.