ADF: Tax-exempt status safe for Ramsey County church
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4881
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
March 24, 2009 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom
Tax-exempt status safe for Ramsey County church
ADF-allied attorneys obtain settlement on behalf of church originally under threat with nearly 800 other ‘church organizations’
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Two Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys have succeeded in obtaining a settlement on behalf of a Ramsey County church once under threat of losing its tax-exempt status along with nearly 800 other churches and related organizations in the county. County officials had originally demanded that 784 “church organizations” submit forms and information or else risk loss of tax-exempt status, despite Minnesota law that exempts churches from such requirements.
“Government officials have no right to harass churches in violation of state law,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. “The county’s threat to revoke the property tax exemptions of hundreds of churches unless they submitted a pile of documents was arbitrary and violated Minnesota law. Some of the documents sought were not required for churches and did not exist, but the county demanded them regardless. We’re pleased that, in the case of this church, the county has decided to do the right thing. We hope they will do the right thing by the other churches as well.”
Ramsey County sent letters to all of the “church organizations,” including Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church, questioning property tax exemptions for various reasons. The letters demanded the churches submit tax exemption forms, incorporation documents, bylaws, financial statements, and other information or else face the loss of tax-exempt status, even though Minnesota law does not require churches to file such documentation. Advent risked losing its property tax exemption on undeveloped land the church has owned since 1957. ADF-allied attorneys Lynn Basich and Valerie LeMaster came to the church’s aid.
Basich filed two motions for waiver of tax payments on behalf of the church so that the church would not be subject to property taxes while its lawsuit, Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church v. County of Ramsey, moved forward in the Minnesota Tax Court. The chief judge of the tax court signed the order in May 2008. Now the county has agreed to settlement of the lawsuit and has agreed that all parcels of land the church owns will be considered tax-exempt. The county will correct their records to show the properties were also exempt during the tax years 2007 and 2008.
“The pastors and lay people of Advent Lutheran Church are relieved and satisfied with the outcome of this case,” Basich said. “The congregation is now free from the fear of losing its beloved church and having its property taken away from it.”
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
4 Comments
The fair solution for the property tax issue if for all property owners, excluding only property owned by the public at large, should be taxed because all property owners receive public services for which all private property owners should pay.
Churches, religion, and other private organizations which benefit from public services should be willing to pay their fair share just as all other private property owners should.
Our elected legislators should change the property tax laws accordingly. It is way past time for common sense to prevail about this issue.
Gene Garman, M.Div., author of The Religion Commandments, available from Amazon.com.
Churches should not be taxed as it goes against the foundation of our country.
Bravo! Churches provide great benefit to the community in terms of Return On Investment (vs tax) as well as added value.
When governmental organizations suffer budgetary squeezes and are no longer able to help our neighbors in need, the Church will still be there…providing comfort and aid to the neediest among us. They do it far more efficiently, far more kindly and with true charity in action.
How much is that worth?
The early Church suffered far more than the loss of certain privileges for the sake of the gospel! That’s how she grew. The day is fast approaching when the Church in the United States will face much darker threats. Bring it on I say, because our faith is in Christ our God in whom we already have the victory!