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ALERT: Private Activity Bonds
Tell Congress: Taxpayer money for public utilities, not corporate profits.
Public services are offered a special tax status under the Internal
Revenue Code. They are allowed to raise funds through state and local
bonds, without paying taxes on the interest. This effectively gives
them a lower interest rate than is available to private, profit-making
entities.
Makes sense, right? If we gave everyone a tax break
than there would be no tax revenue for the government to function. But
communities struggling to find money for investment in their water
system shouldn’t be burdened with finding an extra few percentage
points to give the federal government.
But some
corporations want these same tax benefits extended to them. Some
public-private programs are already offered tax exemption from bond
financing, but there is a cap on the number of these private activity
bonds. H.R. 1708 would lift that cap, offering more tax-subsidized
bonding to corporations.
Taxpayer money should finance public utilities, not corporate profits. Tell Congress not to give tax breaks to corporate investors to privatize our water.
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