Disclaimer:
I am not an attorney. Consult with your attorney regarding your specific situation
in the following matter.
I am a pastor of two churches and I serve as a member of Elkhart County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals
The purpose of this blog- post is to make
an appeal to church leadership to attend to Indiana Code regarding property tax
exemption of their real estate.
The Code to which I refer
is: IC 6-1.1-10-21
As, in Indiana, real
estate used for religious purposes is exempt from taxation, this has the
practical effect of shifting tax burden to other property tax- payers. Whatever
county you may reside in, a quick survey of the number of religious institutions
will reveal many thousands of acres exempt from taxation. If we were to assume
a low-end value of $10,000 per acre, we can conclude that there is much
community subsidy of those religious activities.
Churches and other religious institutions should
find ways to be good neighbors in their local communities.
A more pressing matter is the use of
parsonages, again, IC 6-1.1-10-21 will provide information as to when a parsonage
can be tax exempt.
If a
church, which is renting its parsonage, is not compliant with IC 6-1.1-10-21,
then they are operating as a landlord with an unfair advantage over legitimate
landlords in the community who do in fact pay taxes.
Churches and other religious organizations
should be proactive and diligent towards making sure that they are in
compliance with Indiana Code regarding their parsonages.
If we are to have authentic witness in the
community, we need to do more than express love and care for the community with
words. We need to take the initiative to make sure we are not passing along
undue burden of taxation to them. And also, we must see to it that we are not exercising
an unfair advantage over landlords in the community.
Give the relevant code a
read, you may be surprised.
IC 6-1.1-10-21
