Seizing on the news that Golden 1 Credit Union has purchased the naming rights to a new sports arena in Sacramento, California Bankers Association President and CEO Rodney Brown penned an op-ed -- published Wednesday in The Sacramento Bee -- challenging the credit union industry’s outdated tax exemption.
Brown noted that Golden 1 is the nation’s sixth largest credit union and reportedly purchased the naming rights for $120 million over the next 20 years. “Six million dollars annually for the right to have your name in bright lights on a sports arena is a sizable amount of money, but for a ‘nonprofit’ corporation that pays zero dollars in state or federal income tax, it’s probably not too much of a stretch,” he said.
Brown explained how credit unions have leveraged their tax exemption to grow aggressively and noted that the tax exemption is poorly targeted, often going to upper-income customers. He also highlighted the fact that California banks in 2013 paid $600 million in state taxes, and credit unions -- if they were taxed -- would have paid $111 million.
“There is no longer any valid reason why these large, bank-like credit unions should retain their tax exemption, a message we will continue to promote while supporting our local, state and national economies,” Brown concluded.
Read the op-ed.
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Greed, arrogance, and a stretch of the tax exempt rules have now landed them at the center of an FBI investigation. If this isn't a case for taxation, I don't what is.
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