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ADF Asks OH Court to Reconsider Church Taxation Decision
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney David Kennedy filed a motion with the Ohio Supreme Court Monday asking it to reconsider its narrow 4-3 ruling against a church being taxed on a type of property for which some other charitable organizations are not taxed.
“Religious institutions should not be taxed differently than other charitable organizations that serve the public,” said Kennedy, who argued before the court on Aug. 25 on behalf of the Church of God in Northern Ohio. “We are urging the court to consider the value churches have to the general public and not just to their own members. Aside from the spiritual, moral and social values that churches instill in society, they also engage in a wide range of community programs and aid for the needy and have historically been at the forefront of such efforts. Obviously, all such charitable efforts require administrative facilities in order to function.”
The motion for reconsideration Kennedy filed states, “As a matter of public policy, this Court has an opportunity to prevent further confusion and disparate treatment between religious and other charitable institutions by recognizing that the charitable activities performed by religious institutions are of equal value and deserve the same tax exempt treatment as those afforded to other non-religious charitable institutions. There is no just or sound reason why activities motivated by religious worship should receive such disparate treatment.”
On Nov. 18, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in Church of God in Northern Ohio v. Wilkins that an office building in Bath Township built by the church in 2002 to house regional administrative offices does not qualify for a property tax exemption even though the court has ruled in the past that the administrative offices for charitable institutions like the Girls Scouts and the Visiting Nurses are exempt from real estate taxation. The church applied for real estate tax exemption under a state statute that authorizes exemption for property owned by charitable institutions that is used exclusively in furtherance of the organization’s non-profit charitable purposes. The tax commissioner denied the request, and the Board of Tax Appeals affirmed the denial.
A dissent written by Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and joined by Justices Paul E. Pfeifer and Terrence O’Donnell argued that the Church of God in Northern Ohio should have been granted a tax exemption because it met the qualifications that the Ohio courts, including the Ohio Supreme Court, had determined in other cases.
“COG’s churches are open to the public and no one attending church is required to pay any dues or fees,” the dissent states. “Further, COG’s churches are not social clubs but are places of worship in which to spread the gospel and are also used to provide outreach programs that assist the needy. Finally, COG seeks to spread the gospel beyond the doors of existing churches.... I would hold that COG’s property plays an integral role in supporting the charitable activities of public worship and providing outreach programs within the congregation’s churches. Consequently, I would hold that COG’s property is used exclusively for a charitable purpose, and therefore is exempt from taxation....”
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