[Vision2020] 07-13-04 Spokesman Review: Moscow church properties back on local tax rolls

[Art Deco aka W. Fox]

Moscow church properties back on local tax rolls
Board finds some Christ Church buildings house for-profit uses
Hannelore Sudermann  [Spokesman-Review]
Staff writer
July 13, 2004

Two of three downtown buildings owned by a Moscow, Idaho, church and its college
were put back on the tax rolls by Latah County's Board of Equalization early
Monday.

In a meeting continued from late Friday night, county Commissioners Jack Nelson
and Tom Stroschein - acting as the local Board of Equalization - voted to revoke
tax-free status for Anselm House, the headquarters for Christ Church, and one of
the two downtown buildings that house the New Saint Andrews College.

Their vote was in response to a protest filed by Moscow residents Saundra Lund
and Rosemary Huskey, who call themselves civic activists. Lund and Huskey, with
the help of their attorney, Mike Curley, argued that the buildings used by the
church and the college also have commercial uses.

They pointed out that Idaho law granting tax-free status to a religious or
educational nonprofit organization's property requires that that property be
"exclusively" nonprofit. In the cases of the two buildings, one rented space to
another organization and the other had a bakery on the first floor.

Huskey and Lund also argued that the college and the church may not be true
nonprofits, since the school does not have a federally approved not-for-profit
standing such as a 501c3 tax status and that the church is operating a press
that sells books the women believe are not central to the church's mission. But
these points came second to the simple application of "exclusive" use under
Idaho law Monday.

"We are delighted that the Latah County BOE followed the exclusivity clause,"
said Huskey.

She said she and Lund are grateful for the research and legal opinion of Doug
Whitney, the county prosecutor who advised the board on the law. She said she
and Lund still plan to appeal the decision on the third building, the portion of
New Saint Andrews College that remains exempt.

Doug Jones, speaking on behalf of the church in which he is a teaching elder,
said the news is so fresh that he's not sure how the church will respond. Jones
is also editor of Canon Press, the publishing entity housed in the Anselm House
building.

"We're still trying to be clear on a couple of things," he said, adding that the
loss of the tax-free-property status was not a big issue for the church. "It's
something we'll need to discuss in our elder meeting. We may appeal, we may not.
It's up in the air."

"This whole thing has an odd, small-town feel," he added.

Roy Attwood, dean of New Saint Andrews, said the church will appeal the board's
decision as it relates to the college property.

"The board has been open and honest with us, just as we have been open and
honest in all our dealings with the board," Attwood said. "Because we share
Rosemary Huskey and Saundra Lund's concern about accurate and complete
information in the tax process, we look forward to seeing the record set
straight on appeal."

The church pastor, Doug Wilson, who is also a permanent member of the college's
executive board of trustees, was out of town Monday and not available for
comment.

Wilson and his church have sparked controversy in the community because of
positions they have taken on issues such as women's rights, homosexuality and
slavery. Wilson is co-author of a booklet on slavery in the South that describes
it as "a relationship based upon mutual affection and confidence."

Church supporters have called the protest of the church''s tax-free status a
culture-driven attack on a religious organization.

The church and school can try to regain their tax-free status by re-presenting
their cases before the board and by possibly making changes to their tenants.
They also can appeal the board's decision to the Idaho State Tax Commission.
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