This press conference, held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., was neither well-publicized or videotaped. Very few members of the print or electronic media were present among the 11 people in attendance. Charlene K. Haar, president of the Education Policy Institute, and Paul Steidler, senior fellow with the Alexis de Toqueville Institution, were pointedly not permitted to ask questions of the speaker.
The property tax calculations provided among the handouts indicate a total assessed value of $51,700,000. This brings the assessed tax to $1,111,550 according to the same handout. A question arises, however, when this is compared with figures presented to the Representative Assembly at the NEA's July 1997 Conference, held in Atlanta, GA. In the Financial Reports of the Secretary-Treasurer and Independent Auditors from that meeting, the 1995 and 1996 value listed for NEA headquarters is $77,783,887. Why the discrepancy? Are we do believe it depreciated more than $26,000,000 in the last two months?
One further point made by Mr. Chase at the press conference was this, "...If Congress considers legislation that will make it possible to pay our taxes -- without attaching unrelated provisions that would harm D.C. children -- we will gladly support it."
Mr. Chase and the NEA appear to have sought, by holding this press conference behind closed doors among a very sparse crowd, to beat a perceived losing battle to maintain their tax exempt status and put the best "spin" on it they possibly could. If they live up to their agreement to begin paying property taxes in the District of Columbia, this would be a victory for all who believe labor unions should be treated the same as other big businesses who must pay taxes.
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