by Gary Humble | Tennessee Stands
Not all tax dollars are treated equally.
Did you ever stop to think about how much of your money is being funneled into the hands of nonprofits by way of grants? Of course, we know that governments contract with third parties for services rendered. But oftentimes we only consider the work of corporate vendors and private companies who hold federal and state contracts to provide certain services.
The fact is that every year here in Tennessee, millions in taxpayer funds are made available to Tennessee nonprofits for a variety of issues ranging from art, education, healthcare, transportation, emergency services, and the list goes on. But have you ever stopped to consider what is actually happening with your money?
Something to consider is that while nonprofits who receive taxpayer dollars in the form of grants are required to file a report to the state as to how that money was spent (in most cases), those reports leave much to be desired in terms of transparency. But unlike a government entity, those same nonprofits are not subject to public records requests. So, consider that you have nonprofit entities operating on tax monies but with no accountability from the taxpayer.