Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Solar and tax breaks

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Apr 17, 2026, at 11:14 AM, Philip Semanchuk <philip [at] semanchuk.com> 
> wrote:

> Under this scheme, our HOA is a for-profit entity, and we are eligible for 
> the tax credits. However, our income is nominal, so we pay less than $100 in 
> tax each year. As a result, the tax credit is basically meaningless to us. If 
> for example we got an $8k tax credit and paid $100 a year in tax, it would 
> take 80 years to enjoy the full benefit of the tax credit. 

I think there is a misapprehension about non-profits receiving huge tax 
benefits. Tax benefits are related to income. This is a good example from 
Pacifica cohousing. They only pay $100 a year in taxes. To lower the tax by 
$100 would require a lot of work on the part of the finance team, their lawyer, 
or an accountant. It woud cost more than $100 every year to do that.

An HOA really doesn’t have income. Every penny should be going to benefit the 
homeowners in the form of reserves for future expenses, maintenance, 
operations, etc. It isn’t the goal of a cohousing condominium to make a profit. 
The tax law is more relevant to a commercial condo which could want to make a 
profit. Paying taxes is good because it means you had income.

The first lawyer for Takoma Village asked us a question that is pertinent. We 
were talking about developing the workshop so non-residents could be affiliate 
members who used the workshop. We would be sharing with neighbors and also be 
able to justify having more expensive equipment. 

She ask, "Well, what kind of organization would you be? Legally you are a 
condominium. Condominiums don’t normally have extra members who only use one 
facility and condominiums are not involved with providing services to the 
neighborhood.”

Having to define ourselves legally, under the statutes of DC, made us step back 
and think about not only the tax issues but the insurance issues and how we 
would decide who could be an affiliate member. None of those questions were 
ever resolved. And we got busy with all the other millions of things that had 
be be decided.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Riderwood Village, Silver Spring MD
Founding member and 25 year resident in Takoma Village, Washington DC