Nonprofits have unfair advantage

Not just taxpayers are hurt by the tax exemption for “nonprofits.” Look at the almost unfair advantages those nonprofits get compared to the small business person. How many more patients does the single-practice health care provider need to see just to pay the $20,000 in property taxes for a modest office for his/her building while those down the street in the hospital-affiliated clinic building pay $0. The answer seems to be: too many to stay in business for most. How many independent doctors’ offices does Des Moines have now compared to less than a generation ago? Kind of sad to see the personal business person pushed out of business by those who wear the “nonprofit” status as some type of badge of honor. Or perhaps their ability and willingness to avoid taxes puts them in a “profits before community” like category all their own. After all, the top five listed by CivicSkinny were health care- and religion-based, so it must be for God and the children.

Mike Rowley
-Clive

How we roll
To its credit, Cityview published articles on the institutional perils of racism and homophobia by Douglas Burns and Michael Gartner, respectively. Yet, since Cityview continually fails to employ, publish or highlight any female author contributions, it appears to fall within the same discriminatory practices that it decries. But yet again, this can probably be explained as Cityview’s priority to continue its “Swimsuit” and “Sexiest of Des Moines” editions in perpetuity without any accountable backlash.

Robin Crabtree
-Madrid

Editor’s note: Thank you for the background on our company. Here’s an additional statistic for you: Of all the employees at Big Green Umbrella Media, more than two-thirds are of the female persuasion. And we even have men in our swimsuit and Des Moines Sexiest People editions. But thanks for the backlash.