The Payment in Lieu of Taxes program was meant to provide relief to people who pay property taxes in Portland.
City documents say if the $4 billion tax-exempt properties in the city were taxable, the city's property tax rate would be nearly 20 percent lower.
Representatives of nonprofits told the council on Monday that the program wasn't fair.
But one councilor said it would be more democratic for the city to take on social services, rather than push those responsibilities onto the nonprofits.
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

In the world of social enterprises, failure is a cringe-worthy moment nobody wants to talk about. But, social entrepreneurs can benefit from their failures.