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Non-profit

Public Assets Institute

Website:

publicassets.org
Location:

MONTPELIER, VT
Tax ID:

16-1703662
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2017):

Revenue: $257,708
Expenses: $320,051
Assets: $156,096
Formation:

2003
President:

Paul Cillo

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Public Assets Institute is a left-of-center non-profit advocacy organization based in Vermont that focuses on issues such as healthcare, education, and taxes in Vermont. 1

The organization receives funding from multiple foundations and groups including the Ben and Jerry’s Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

It is a member of the State Priorities Partnership, a network of 51 liberal state-based research and policy organizations, and is listed as an ally to the left-of-center non-profit advocacy organization the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative.

Funding

The Public Assets Institute also received $220,059 from contributions, donations, and grants in 2009,2 $228,673 in 2010,3 $175,567 in 2011, $223,445 in 2012, $235,996 in 2013, £317,872 in 2014, $221,844 in 2015, $234,820 in 2016, $197,075 in 2017,4 and $304,441 in 2018. 5

It received $20,000 from the Vermont Community Foundation as part of its Innovations and Collaborations Grant Program. In this instance, the Vermont Community Foundation granted the money for PAI’s “Health Care Reform Information and Education Project.” 6 The organization also received $17,000 from the Vermont Community Foundation to support the One Vermont Coalition. 7

Although the date of the $20,000 grant to the Public Assets Institute was not listed, the organization received the $17,000 grant in 2016 as well as another $36,000 from the Vermont Community Foundation that year for “general support.” 8

The Public Assets Institute has also received contributions from the Ben and Jerry’s Foundation which is associated with the makers of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and contributes to a number of left-wing and far-left causes. The foundation contributed $6,000 to the Public Assets Institute in 2013 for “general support,”9 and another $6,000 for “general support” in 2014 on top of a $10,000 grant for the organization’s “Second Decade Campaign” which aimed to raise $300,000 over three years to continue its research operations and policy development. 10The Public Assets Institute also received $2,000 in 2015 in “Employee Matching Gift,”11 $5,000 from the foundation for “general support” in 2016,12 and another $10,000 in 2017. 13

The Public Assets Institute has also received multiple grants from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which works closely with George Soros’s Open Society Institute-Baltimore (also known as the Alliance for Open Society International), and was the largest contributor in a bailout that kept the Open Society Institute-Baltimore from closing.

The Public Assets Institute received $75,000 from the foundation in 2009 for the “State Fiscal Analysis Initiative,”14 now known as the State Priorities Partnership; a liberal network of 51 state-based research and policy organizations that the Public Assets Institute is a part of. Other organizations include the Nebraska-based OpenSky Policy institute which promotes left-of-center budget and tax policies, the Alabama-based left-of-center think tank and policy advocacy group Arise Citizens’ Policy Project, the New York-based labor union-supported think tank Fiscal Policy Institute which advocates pro-labor union and other left-of-center policies, and the Michigan-based left-of-center policy think-tank Michigan League for Public Policy. 15

The Public Assets Institute received another $75,000 in 2013 for continuing to support the initiative,16 as well as $75,000 in 2014,17 $75,000 in 2015,18 and another $75,000 in 2016. 19

The Annie E. Casey Foundation also partly funded multiple research and analysis articles written by the Public Assets Institute including research on migration to and from Vermont titled “10 States Account for Most Vermont Migration,”20 research on Vermont’s budget called “How to Close the Budget Gap,”21 research on the federal stimulus plan (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) called “Keeping an Eye on Vermont’s Stimulus Funds,”22 and research on income tax called “”Vermont’s effective Income Tax Rate Dropped in 2010.” 23

Affiliated Organizations

The Public Assets Institute is listed as a state partner of Voices for Vermont’s Children, a left-of-center non-profit advocacy organization based in Vermont that focuses on issues involving children such as education and healthcare. The Annie E. Casey Foundation is also listed as a national partner. 24

Gaye Symington, the president of the High Meadows Fund, a left-of-center non-profit advocacy organization that focuses on environmental issues, also sits on the board of directors of the Public Assets Institute. 25 High Meadows Fund is listed as an affiliated group of the Vermont Community Foundation on the foundation’s 2017 tax returns and shares the same address. Other organizations that share the same address as VCF include the Permanent Fund for Vermont’s Children, the J Warren and Lois McClure Foundation, and the Addison Community Athletics Foundation. 26

The Public Assets Institute is also listed as an ally to the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI),27 a non-profit organization that advocates for left-of-center policies regarding economics, social issues, health care, housing, education, and labor unions. Other organizations affiliated with NESRI include Amnesty International, abortion advocacy group the Center for Reproductive Rights, left-of-center communications strategy group The Opportunity Agenda (a project of the Tides Center), and left-wing agitation group the Advancement Project. 28

References

  1. “Policy Areas.” Public Assets Institute, January 9, 2019. https://publicassets.org/issues/.
  2. Tigas, Mike, Sisi Wei, Ken Schwencke, and Alec Glassford. “PUBLIC ASSETS INSTITUTE INC – Form 990 for Period Ending Jun 2009 – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/161703662/2010_04_EO/16-1703662_990EZ_200906.
  3. Tigas, Mike, Sisi Wei, Ken Schwencke, and Alec Glassford. “PUBLIC ASSETS INSTITUTE INC – Form 990 for Period Ending Jun 2010 – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/161703662/2011_03_EO/16-1703662_990EZ_201006.
  4. Tigas, Mike, Sisi Wei, Ken Schwencke, and Alec Glassford. “Public Assets Institute Inc – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/161703662.
  5. Tigas, Mike, Sisi Wei, Ken Schwencke, and Alec Glassford. “Public Assets Institute Inc, Form 990 – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/161703662/201941359349304514/IRS990.
  6. Vermont Community Foundation. “Innovations and Collaborations Grant Program at the Vermont Community Foundation Awards $222,000 to 13 Nonprofit Organizations This Fall.” Innovations and Collaborations Grant Program at the Vermont Community Foundation Awards $222,000 to 13 Nonprofit Organizations this Fall – Vermont Community Foundation. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://www.vermontcf.org/NewsEvents/ViewArticle/tabid/96/ArticleId/5/Innovations-and-Collaborations-Grant-Program-at-the-Vermont-Community-Foundation-Awards-222-000-to-1.aspx.
  7. Vermont Community Foundation. “Innovations and Collaborations Grant Program at the Vermont Community Foundation Awards $169,500 to 11 Nonprofit Organizations.” Innovations and Collaborations Grant Program at the Vermont Community Foundation Awards $169,500 to 11 Nonprofit Organizations – The Vermont Community Foundation. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://www.vermontcf.org/NewsEvents/ViewArticle/tabid/96/ArticleId/184/Innovations-and-Collaborations-Grant-Program-at-the-Vermont-Community-Foundation-Awards-169-500-to-1.aspx.
  8. Tigas, Mike, Sisi Wei, Ken Schwencke, and Alec Glassford. “Vermont Community Foundation, Form 990, Schedule I – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/222712160/201713189349300821/IRS990ScheduleI.
  9. “Ben and Jerry’s Foundation – 2013 990-PF.” BenandJerry’sFoundation.org. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://benandjerrysfoundation.org/files/new pdfs/BJF 2013 990-PF.pdf.
  10. “Ben and Jerry’s Foundation – 2014 990-PF.” BenandJerry’sFoundation.org. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://benandjerrysfoundation.org/files/new pdfs/BJF 12-31-14 990-PF.pdf.
  11. [1] “Ben and Jerry’s Foundation – 2015 990-PF.” Foundation Center. Accessed November 14, 2019. http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990pf_pdf_archive/030/030300865/030300865_201512_990PF.pdf.
  12. “Ben and Jerry’s Foundation – 2016 990-PF.” Foundation Search. Accessed November 14, 2019. http://www.foundationsearch.com/990/LATEST/0/BEN & JERRYS FOUNDATION 2016 030300865.PDF.
  13. “Ben and Jerry’s Foundation – 2017 Grant Recipients.” BenandJerry’sFoundation.org. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://benandjerrysfoundation.org/files/new pdfs/2017 VEJG Grant Recipients (final).pdf.
  14. “Annie E. Casey Foundation – 2009 990-PF.” Foundation Search. Accessed November 14, 2019. http://www.foundationsearch.com/990/ARCHIVE/5/ANNIE E CASEY FOUNDATION 2009 521951681.PDF.
  15. “State Priorities Partnership – Brochure.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/state_priorities_partnership_2014_brochure.pdf.
  16. Tigas, Mike, Sisi Wei, Ken Schwencke, and Alec Glassford. “Annie E Casey Foundation, Form 990PF – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521951681/201433189349100408/IRS990PF.
  17. “Annie E. Casey Foundation – 2014 990-PF.” Foundation Center. Accessed November 14, 2019. http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990pf_pdf_archive/521/521951681/521951681_201412_990PF.pdf.
  18. “Annie E. Casey Foundation – 2015 990-PF.” Foundation Center. AccessedNovember 14, 2019. http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990pf_pdf_archive/521/521951681/521951681_201512_990PF.pdf.
  19. CitizenAudit.org LLC. “Annie E. Casey Foundation – 2016 990-PF.” CitizenAudit.org – Millions of Nonprofit Tax Documents Millions of Nonprofit Tax Documents. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://www.citizenaudit.org/2018_01_PF/52-1951681_990PF_201612.pdf/.
  20. “PAI: 10 States Account for Most Vermont Migration.” Vermont Business Magazine, June 2, 2016. https://vermontbiz.com/news/june/pai-10-states-account-most-vermont-migration.
  21. “PAI: How to Close the Budget Gap.” Vermont Business Magazine, April 17, 2017. https://vermontbiz.com/news/april/pai-how-close-budget-gap.
  22. De Geus, Reenie. “Keeping an Eye on Vermont’s Stimulus Funds.” Public Assets Institute . Accessed November 14, 2019. http://publicassets.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/pai-ib09041.pdf.
  23. Cillo, Paul, and Jack Hoffman. “Vermont’s Effective Income Tax Rate Dropped in 2010.” Public Assets institute . Accessed November 14, 2019. http://publicassets.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PAI-IB1203.pdf.
  24. Tomasi, Evan. “Partners.” Voices for Vermonts Children. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://www.voicesforvtkids.org/partners.
  25. “Our Staff.” High Meadows Fund. Accessed November 14, 2019. http://www.highmeadowsfund.org/staff.
  26. “The Vermont Community Foundation – 2017 990.” Foundation Center. Accessed November 14, 2019. http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/222/222712160/222712160_201712_990.pdf.
  27. “Partners & Allies.” NESRI, July 13, 2015. https://www.nesri.org/allies.
  28. “Partners & Allies.” NESRI, July 13, 2015. https://www.nesri.org/allies.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: June - May
  • Tax Exemption Received: May 1, 2006

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2017 Jun Form 990 $257,708 $320,051 $156,096 $21,512 N $197,075 $60,100 $333 $73,515 PDF
    2016 Jun Form 990 $281,936 $332,432 $227,063 $36,490 N $234,820 $46,630 $486 $77,480
    2015 Jun Form 990 $254,034 $251,694 $254,917 $13,848 N $221,844 $31,822 $368 $59,600 PDF
    2014 Jun Form 990 $373,723 $254,323 $257,594 $18,865 N $317,872 $55,116 $387 $71,519 PDF
    2013 Jun Form 990 $261,142 $265,961 $138,222 $5,396 N $235,966 $24,700 $476 $71,520 PDF
    2012 Jun Form 990 $258,310 $250,642 $147,497 $9,852 N $223,445 $30,147 $547 $71,520 PDF
    2011 Jun Form 990EZ $188,381 $242,249 $129,977 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Public Assets Institute

    PO BOX 942
    MONTPELIER, VT 05601-0942