Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Solar Panel Installation Financing

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Oct 28, 2023, at 12:59 PM, Philip Semanchuk <philip [at] semanchuk.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> Here’s a summary of the most common organization types that are tax exempt. I 
> assume (but am not 100% sure) that any organization with one of the 501c 
> statuses on this page would be eligible for the solar tax _rebate_.
> 
> https://ballotpedia.org/IRS_code,_section_501#:~:text=Section%20501%20of%20the%20U.S.,under%20section%20401(a)

Basically, tax exemption requires that the organization exists to serve the 
public good — no financial gain can accrue to any of its governing members. And 
the "public good" means the “general" public good — HOAs are limited 
specifically to the owners of particular properties who directly benefit from 
being owners. 

It’s hard for many cohousers to twist their heads around this when getting 
cohousing built and keeping the buildings functioning doesn’t feel like an 
income-producing activity. Its legal and financial status (in almost all cases) 
is in the same class as ownership of private property. Real estate development 
is a commercial activity.

One of our members who was very committed to the Green Party and other social 
political programs was shocked to find out during our first operating budget 
discussion that we were not automatically a 501c3 and eligible for all sorts of 
tax exemptions and public grants. 

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org