Abolish not-for-profit

There’s been much written and talked about with the recent coaching/athletic director carousel at the U of A, and the salaries and outgoing payouts involved. Like many others, I find these dollar amounts to be obscene. In fairness, I must admit it’s that way throughout big-time Division 1 athletics.

That said, an argument I continue to hear— “It’s private money, doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime”—is worth exploring.

Yes, it’s true our current tax code allows U of A and other colleges to set up not-for-profit institutions, such as the Razorback Foundation, allowing donors to avoid public scrutiny, write off huge contributions on their taxes, and get their names put on scoreboards and buildings. In my opinion, this should be abolished.

People with last names like Tyson, Walton, Stephens, Reynolds, etc., usually have a problem the rest of us would love to have: At the end of the fiscal year, they actually need large tax deductions. So instead of giving to a legitimate cause like United Way, Red Cross, the Boys and Girls Club of America, they give to big-time college athletic programs. All in the hope of insider access, or as mentioned above, a building in their name.

The other fallacy is that once these buildings or fields are built, down the road the maintenance, staffing, and upkeep of them will fall on taxpayers, and mainly students, who are forced to pay higher and higher tuition and student fees. When is the last time you saw a university lower any of these?

In short, if we are serious about responsible spending, true tax reform, and lowering our national debt (and I don’t think Arkansas’ current delegation is serious about any of these), eliminating the classification of these as not-for-profit would be a small, but excellent, place to start. ANTHONY LLOYD Hot Springs