San Francisco Demands Cut Of PTA Fundraisers

The children come first. Right after the taxman, that is.

San Francisco tax collectors are hitting up the City's Parent Teacher Association for a donation, demanding a 25 percent cut of the take of a recent parking lot fundraiser, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

The City's PTA has for years rented out the school district's parking lots during big events like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, during which concertgoers were charged $25 to park, and the PTA received a cool $5,000, the newspaper reported.

Volunteers and parents running the fundraiser were surprised to receive a visit from inspectors from the Treasurer and Tax Collector's Office, who asked for a 25 percent tax on the proceeds. The tax has been city law for years but has typically never been collected, according to the PTA.

Representatives for the tax collector's office say that the money, earmarked for the Municipal Transportation Agency, is meant to be passed onto the consumer, but the collector -- in this case the PTA -- still needs to pass on the cash to the city.

The PTA is working with its lawyers to see if the tax applies to nonprofits, and if it does, they will lobby the Board of Supervisors to change the "harsh" law.

The City collects $70 million in parking tax annually, the newspaper reported. The PTA hosts fundraisers like this about three or four times a year.