The online Dec. 8 analysis “Digging into Clark County nonprofits’ top earners,” offers public scrutiny of executives’ pay. Nonprofits receive subsidy in the form of tax-exempt status, but not all nonprofits are charities. We need public scrutiny of our publicly subsided tax exemptions.
“We don’t serve the public. We serve our members,” the president of the Vancouver Education Association union for teachers is quoted. VEA had “the highest ratio of CEO salary to annual income among any of the nonprofits analyzed … about a quarter of VEA’s annual income of $521,366.” Another union for teachers, Washington Education Association, had an annual income of $1,034,874 and paid its executive about 13 percent of that. These combined incomes average $778,120. Both are affiliated statewide with Washington Teachers Association and its 376 affiliates, and nationally with National Education Association. Pencil out their average income multiplied by 376 state and 50 national affiliates — that’s serious tax-exempt coin.
About 57 percent of Washington’s government employees belong to unions, compared to fewer than 11 percent of private-sector workers. Don’t forget the federal government unions, too. None of these unions pay their “fair share” in taxes. Their revenue comes from workers who must pay these unions as a condition to work. Why should we publicly subsidize unions and allow them tax exemptions?
Ed Madden
Ridgefield
