[Vision2020] "Commissioners Adjust Tax Exemptions for Moscow Church "
Art Deco aka W. Fox
deco@moscow.com
Wed, 5 May 2004 08:36:14 -0700
Donovan, Saundra, et al,
Idaho Statutes
TITLE 59
PUBLIC OFFICERS IN GENERAL
CHAPTER 7
ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT
59-702. POLICY AND PURPOSE. It is hereby declared that the position of a
public official at all levels of government is a public trust and it is in the
public interest to:
(1) Protect the integrity of government throughout the state of Idaho
while at the same time facilitating recruitment and retention of personnel
needed within government;
(2) Assure independence, impartiality and honesty of public officials in
governmental functions;
(3) Inform citizens of the existence of personal interests which may
present a conflict of interest between an official's public trust and private
concerns;
(4) Prevent public office from being used for personal gain contrary to
the public interest;
(5) Prevent special interests from unduly influencing governmental
action; and
(6) Assure that governmental functions and policies reflect, to the
maximum extent possible, the public interest.
TITLE 59
PUBLIC OFFICERS IN GENERAL
CHAPTER 7
ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT
59-704. REQUIRED ACTION IN CONFLICTS. A public official shall not take
any official action or make a formal decision or formal recommendation
concerning any matter where he has a conflict of interest and has failed to
disclose such conflict as provided in this section. Disclosure of a conflict
does not affect an elected public official's authority to be counted for
purposes of determining a quorum and to debate and to vote on the matter,
unless the public official requests to be excused from debate and voting at
his or her discretion. In order to determine whether a conflict of interest
exists relative to any matter within the scope of the official functions of a
public official, a public official may seek legal advice from the attorney
representing that governmental entity or from the attorney general or from
independent counsel. If the legal advice is that no real or potential conflict
of interest exists, the public official may proceed and shall not be subject
to the prohibitions of this chapter. If the legal advice is that a real or
potential conflict may exist, the public official:
(1) If he is an elected legislative public official, he shall disclose
the nature of the potential conflict of interest and/or be subject to the
rules of the body of which he/she is a member and shall take all action
required under such rules prior to acting on the matter. If a member requests
to be excused from voting on an issue which involves a conflict or a potential
conflict, and the body of which he is a member does not excuse him, such
failure to excuse shall exempt that member from any civil or criminal
liability related to that particular issue.
(2) If he is an elected state public official, he shall prepare a written
statement describing the matter required to be acted upon and the nature of
the potential conflict, and shall file such statement with the secretary of
state prior to acting on the matter. A public official may seek legal advice
from the attorney representing that agency or from the attorney general or
from independent counsel. The elected public official may then act on the
advice of the agency's attorney, the attorney general or independent counsel.
(3) If he is an appointed or employed state public official, he shall
prepare a written statement describing the matter to be acted upon and the
nature of the potential conflict, and shall deliver the statement to his
appointing authority. The appointing authority may obtain an advisory opinion
from the attorney general or from the attorney representing that agency. The
public official may then act on the advice of the attorney general, the
agency's attorney or independent counsel.
(4) If he is an elected public official of a county or municipality, he
shall disclose the nature of a potential conflict of interest prior to acting
on a matter and shall be subject to the rules of the body of which he/she is a
member and take all action required by the rules prior to acting on the
matter. If a member requests to be excused from voting on an issue which
involves a conflict or a potential conflict, and the body of which he is a
member does not excuse him, such failure to excuse shall exempt that member
from any civil or criminal liability related to that particular issue. The
public official may obtain an advisory opinion from the attorney general or
the attorney for the county or municipality or from independent counsel. The
public official may then act on the advice of the attorney general or attorney
for the county or municipality or his independent counsel.
(5) If he is an appointed or employed public official of a county or
municipality, he shall prepare a written statement describing the matter
required to be acted upon and the nature of the potential conflict, and shall
deliver the statement to his appointing authority. The appointing authority
may obtain an advisory opinion from the attorney for the appointing authority,
or, if none, the attorney general. The public official may then act on the
advice of the attorney general or attorney for the appointing authority or
independent counsel.
(6) Nothing contained herein shall preclude the executive branch of state
government or a political subdivision from establishing an ethics board or
commission to perform the duties and responsibilities provided for in this
chapter. Any ethics board or commission so established shall have specifically
stated powers and duties including the power to:
(a) Issue advisory opinions upon the request of a public official within
its jurisdiction;
(b) Investigate possible unethical conduct of public officials within its
jurisdiction and conduct hearings, issue findings, and make
recommendations for disciplinary action to a public official's appointing
authority;
(c) Accept complaints of unethical conduct from the public and take
appropriate action.
WayneArt Deco (Wayne Fox)deco@moscow.com----- Original Message -----
From: "Donovan Arnold" <donovanarnold@hotmail.com>
To: <sslund@adelphia.net>; <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 8:24 PM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] "Commissioners Adjust Tax Exemptions for Moscow Church
"
| The fact that Doug Wilson's Christ Church gets a tax exemption is fine with
| me. I think all religions should even if they happen to fall into the
| definition of "cult".
|
| What bothers me more is that fact that Paul Kimmell did not consider it a
| conflict of interest that he vote on the issue. Do Mormons, Catholics, Jews,
| and Methodists get a vote on the County Commission when their churches want
| their taxes reviewed? I don't think so. So the fact that Mr. Kimmell would
| say that it was "fair" is beyond the pale. If Mr. Kimmell thinks the
| decision is so easy and fits within the guidelines of the law then he should
| step aside and allow the other two members of the Commission to vote without
| fear of the outcome.
|
| Does Mr. Kimmell vote himself a tax reduction? Or his mother, brother or
| sister? Does he raise his enemies taxes while aiding his friends? It would
| appear from Mr. Kimmell's recent decision that not only does he not find
| this a conflict of interest, but he in fact seems to publicly gloat about
| it. I am ashamed that such a man is on the BOCC and should be investigated.
| If he does this publicly, what does he do in private that we don't know
| about?
|
| Donovan J Arnold
|
| >From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund@adelphia.net>
| >To: "'vision2020'" <vision2020@moscow.com>
| >Subject: [Vision2020] "Commissioners Adjust Tax Exemptions for Moscow
| >Church "
| >Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 17:56:54 -0700
| >
| >At a time when the rest of us could be facing significantly increased
| >property taxes, I was particularly interested in the BOE's (made up of our
| >county commissioners) decisions yesterday. The following article appeared
| >in today's Daily News on page 2A:
| >
| >"Commissioners adjust tax exemptions for Moscow church
| >
| >Hillary Hamm
| >
| >Latah County commissioners approved an increase in the amount of tax-exempt
| >property for Christ Church and New St. Andrews College Monday.
| >
| >Representatives from the church and college met with commissioners, who sat
| >as the Board of Equalization, to discuss further property-tax exemptions
| >for
| >the downtown Moscow buildings.
| >
| >Gregory Dickison, attorney for Christ Church, requested that the board
| >change the rate of exemption because of recent reallotments of both church
| >offices and college space. Some areas that were once rented out, are no
| >longer, freeing up more space for church activities.
| >
| >Dickison would not comments to the Daily News.
| >
| >He asked that the college, located on Main Street, change from 89 percent
| >to
| >88.91 percent exempt, while church office space on Fifth Street would
| >increase from 81 percent to 92 percent exempt.
| >
| >Assessor Steve Fiscus said Christ Church and New St. Andrews are exempt
| >under state law, which allows churches and education facilities not to pay
| >property taxes on their buildings and land. But any time there are changes
| >made to a tax-exempt property, the owner must meet with the Board of
| >Equalization.
| >
| >Zumé Bakery and Cafe, located in the college building is taxable property,
| >as is a second floor choir room and bookkeeper office. In the church
| >building, 725-square-feet of the space, rented to the Association of
| >Classical and Christian Schools is taxable property.
| >
| >The alterations made to the facilities, both under the direction of Christ
| >Church ministries, will be exempt until they are challenged by the
| >assessor,
| >concerned citizens or space allotments are changed in the building, Fiscus
| >said.
| >
| >Commissioner Paul Kimmell said the decision to increase the exemption
| >status
| >of the church and college properties was easy.
| >
| >"It's our job to assess that in a fair manner," said Kimmell, who is a
| >member of Christ Church. "If they fall within the perspective of Idaho
| >code,
| >we wouldn't deny it. We want to make sure everything is fair. We want to
| >treat everyone consistently."
| >
| >Hillary Hamm can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 228, or by e-mail at
| >hhamm@dnews.com."
| >
| >
| >
| >Saundra Lund
| >Moscow, ID
| >
| >The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
| >nothing.
| >-Edmund Burke
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donovan Arnold" <donovanarnold@hotmail.com>
To: <sslund@adelphia.net>; <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 8:24 PM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] "Commissioners Adjust Tax Exemptions for Moscow Church
"
| The fact that Doug Wilson's Christ Church gets a tax exemption is fine with
| me. I think all religions should even if they happen to fall into the
| definition of "cult".
|
| What bothers me more is that fact that Paul Kimmell did not consider it a
| conflict of interest that he vote on the issue. Do Mormons, Catholics, Jews,
| and Methodists get a vote on the County Commission when their churches want
| their taxes reviewed? I don't think so. So the fact that Mr. Kimmell would
| say that it was "fair" is beyond the pale. If Mr. Kimmell thinks the
| decision is so easy and fits within the guidelines of the law then he should
| step aside and allow the other two members of the Commission to vote without
| fear of the outcome.
|
| Does Mr. Kimmell vote himself a tax reduction? Or his mother, brother or
| sister? Does he raise his enemies taxes while aiding his friends? It would
| appear from Mr. Kimmell's recent decision that not only does he not find
| this a conflict of interest, but he in fact seems to publicly gloat about
| it. I am ashamed that such a man is on the BOCC and should be investigated.
| If he does this publicly, what does he do in private that we don't know
| about?
|
| Donovan J Arnold
|
| >From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund@adelphia.net>
| >To: "'vision2020'" <vision2020@moscow.com>
| >Subject: [Vision2020] "Commissioners Adjust Tax Exemptions for Moscow
| >Church "
| >Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 17:56:54 -0700
| >
| >At a time when the rest of us could be facing significantly increased
| >property taxes, I was particularly interested in the BOE's (made up of our
| >county commissioners) decisions yesterday. The following article appeared
| >in today's Daily News on page 2A:
| >
| >"Commissioners adjust tax exemptions for Moscow church
| >
| >Hillary Hamm
| >
| >Latah County commissioners approved an increase in the amount of tax-exempt
| >property for Christ Church and New St. Andrews College Monday.
| >
| >Representatives from the church and college met with commissioners, who sat
| >as the Board of Equalization, to discuss further property-tax exemptions
| >for
| >the downtown Moscow buildings.
| >
| >Gregory Dickison, attorney for Christ Church, requested that the board
| >change the rate of exemption because of recent reallotments of both church
| >offices and college space. Some areas that were once rented out, are no
| >longer, freeing up more space for church activities.
| >
| >Dickison would not comments to the Daily News.
| >
| >He asked that the college, located on Main Street, change from 89 percent
| >to
| >88.91 percent exempt, while church office space on Fifth Street would
| >increase from 81 percent to 92 percent exempt.
| >
| >Assessor Steve Fiscus said Christ Church and New St. Andrews are exempt
| >under state law, which allows churches and education facilities not to pay
| >property taxes on their buildings and land. But any time there are changes
| >made to a tax-exempt property, the owner must meet with the Board of
| >Equalization.
| >
| >Zumé Bakery and Cafe, located in the college building is taxable property,
| >as is a second floor choir room and bookkeeper office. In the church
| >building, 725-square-feet of the space, rented to the Association of
| >Classical and Christian Schools is taxable property.
| >
| >The alterations made to the facilities, both under the direction of Christ
| >Church ministries, will be exempt until they are challenged by the
| >assessor,
| >concerned citizens or space allotments are changed in the building, Fiscus
| >said.
| >
| >Commissioner Paul Kimmell said the decision to increase the exemption
| >status
| >of the church and college properties was easy.
| >
| >"It's our job to assess that in a fair manner," said Kimmell, who is a
| >member of Christ Church. "If they fall within the perspective of Idaho
| >code,
| >we wouldn't deny it. We want to make sure everything is fair. We want to
| >treat everyone consistently."
| >
| >Hillary Hamm can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 228, or by e-mail at
| >hhamm@dnews.com."
| >
| >
| >
| >Saundra Lund
| >Moscow, ID
| >
| >The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
| >nothing.
| >-Edmund Burke
| >
| >
| >
| >_____________________________________________________
| > List services made available by First Step Internet,
| > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
| > http://www.fsr.net
| > mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com
| >ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
|
| _________________________________________________________________
| FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar get it now!
| http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/
|
| _____________________________________________________
| List services made available by First Step Internet,
| serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
| http://www.fsr.net
| mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com
| ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
|
|