[Vision2020] A Failure to Communicate

[DonaldH675 at aol.com]

Visionaries:
One of my favorite movies is Cool Hand Luke.  In particular, the lines "What 
we have here is a failure to communicate" resonates strongly with me.  And, I 
believe, I may have to plead guilty to that charge myself.  Saundra Lund and 
are not challenging the tax exempt status of Christ Church.  That is an issue 
for the IRS to evaluate, not the Latah County Board of Equalization.  
We are challenging the property tax exemption given to an office building, 
Anselm House, which is property owned by Christ Church.  Anselm House is not 
used for public worship. According to Christ Church pastor, Doug Wilson, the 
congregation meets at the Logos School Field House on Sundays, and at the Nuart 
Theater for those purposes.  Anselm House is not a parsonage, and it is not a 
recreation hall.  Those are the purposes described in the Idaho Statue 63-602B 
under which Anselm House was granted the property tax exemption. 
http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=630060002B.K Hence, the reason that our 
attorney argued the case based on the word exclusivity.  This appeal and its legal 
merit has absolutely nothing to do with doctrinal positions, personalities, 
religious organizations etc. etc. etc.  
Our appeal asks the BOE to observe the rule of the law and revoke a property 
tax exemption inappropriately granted to an exempt organization.  Again, the 
exempt status of the organization is not the issue, the use of property owned 
by the exemption organization is the issue.  We argue that it fails to meet the 
statutory standards. Please note that 63-602B was the statute under which 
Christ Church, as owner of the office building, Anselm House, filed for the 
exemption.  They chose to use that statute, we chose to challenge them on it.
If Pope Joan moved her church headquarters from the office space in our 
jointly shared library into our little red shop building, (which is a multi-purpose 
space), and then had the nerve to try to claim a property tax exemption on 
the shop because she wrote books, articles, and edited the Auntie Establishment 
website in the shop, Saundra and I would bring the same issues forward.  Oops, 
maybe not, Saundra is the Bishop of Moscow, according to Pope Joan.  
Rose Huskey
PS  Pope Joan is not contemplating either moving to the shop or picking the 
pockets of Latah County tax payers by claiming a property tax exemption.  



"One cannot level one's moral lance at every evil in the universe. There are 
just too many of them. But you can do something, and the difference between 
doing something and doing nothing is everything." Daniel Berrigan
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