[Vision2020] Two Up, Two down for Church in Moscow

[donald toogood]

After reading about that lady who is a witch and that she has a lot of
people that meet up together even in one of your churches to make
witchcraft I see why all of you are trying to run that preacher out of
town. He won't say witchcraft and men marrying each other is ok so you
want him to go. You probably want to get rid of anybody who doesn't agree
with you.

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "Tom Hansen"
  To: vision2020 at moscow.com
  Subject: [Vision2020] Two Up, Two down for Church in Moscow
  Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 15:14:36 -0700

  >
  > > From today's (July 12, 2005) Moscow-Pullman Daily News -
  >
  > --------------------------------------------------------------
  >
  > Two up, two down for church in Moscow; Latah Board of Equalization
  rules
  > Zumé, Anselm House are taxable
  >
  > By Megan Doyle, Daily News staff writer
  >
  > Latah County commissioners kept wishing they had guidance from the
  Idaho
  > Board of Tax Appeals Monday as they made decisions on the 2005
  tax-exempt
  > status of four religious-based organizations. Acting as the Board
  of
  > Equalization, the commissioners made their decisions on the last
  day of BOE
  > hearings.
  >
  > Anselm House, operated by Moscow's Christ Church, will remain
  taxable. The
  > south parcel of New Saint Andrews College will be tax exempt. The
  north
  > parcel of the college, which houses Zumé Cafe and Bakery, will be
  taxable.
  > Community Christian Ministries, which operates the Nuart Theatre,
  will be
  > tax exempt. All three parcels of Faith Ministries, which operates
  Logos
  > School, also will be tax exempt.
  >
  > "I'm really glad that they upheld the decision they made last year
  on Anselm
  > House," said Rosemary Huskey who, along with Saundra Lund, has
  argued
  > against allowing tax-exempt status for each of the entities. Huskey
  and Lund
  > are Moscow area residents.
  >
  > Doug Wilson, pastor of Christ Church, voiced the opposite reaction.
  >
  > "Of course, on a practical level, I'm grateful for the decisions on
  Nuart
  > and Logos School," he said.
  >
  > "For the rest of it, I just can't make sense of it."
  >
  > Wilson said he doesn't understand why some properties were granted
  the
  > exemption while others were not, when similar arguments were made
  for each
  > property.
  >
  > The women plan to appeal to the Idaho Board of Tax Appeals on the
  parcels or
  > properties the commissioners decided were tax exempt.
  >
  > Christ Church and New Saint Andrews filed a request for tax-exempt
  status
  > for the 2005 tax year, as they had for the previous year.
  >
  > Huskey and Lund protested last year's decision, stating the
  properties did
  > not meet the exclusive-use requirement of the state code. The
  commissioners
  > later agreed.
  >
  > The issue was appealed by the entities to the Idaho Board of Tax
  Appeals,
  > but because two of the three board members recused themselves, no
  decision
  > was made and the county's ruling was upheld.
  >
  > New St. Andrews College and Christ Church continue to argue for the
  tax
  > exemptions on the parcels the board of equalization declared
  taxable in the
  > 2004 tax year. Their case will be scheduled to be presented in
  District
  > Court.
  >
  > Because the appeal is in process, Wilson said he believes an
  additional
  > appeal for 2005 will not need to be made. The decision made by the
  higher
  > authority also will affect the 2005 year.
  >
  > Huskey and Lund did not continue their appeals.
  >
  > "I think the information we received this year was quite similar to
  what we
  > received last year," Commissioner Jack Nelson said of Christ Church
  and New
  > Saint Andrews.
  >
  > Both Nelson and Commissioner Tom Stroschein agreed they would have
  liked a
  > decision from the IBTA about the exclusive-use question and will be
  writing
  > a letter urging the board for guidance.
  >
  > "I certainly don't have any other choice but to make the same
  decision I
  > made a year ago," Stroschein said.
  >
  > When the issues were discussed last year, apportionment was
  suggested for
  > the properties that house both for-profit and nonprofit operations.
  > Apportionment would allow a percentage of the properties to be
  tax-exempt.
  >
  > "I would say case law surely supports apportionment," said Roy
  Atwood,
  > president of New Saint Andrews College.
  >
  > He said the Board of Trustees of the college will decide later
  whether to
  > appeal the commissioners' decision about the north side of the
  property.
  >
  > Huskey and Lund plan to continue their argument against allowing
  > apportionment.
  >
  > Because the IBTA did not make a decision last year, the issue
  remains
  > unresolved and the situation is getting worse as more properties
  have
  > similar tax-exemption questions.
  >
  > Atwood said the women are being selective and discriminatory
  against the
  > college based on its religious affiliation.
  >
  > "I've said many times this is not about religious persecution. It's
  about
  > abiding (by) the law," Huskey said.
  >
  > Commissioners decided to grant tax exemption status to CCM because
  they said
  > it acts as a religious or charitable organization where no one
  individual
  > profits from its operations.
  >
  > At the hearing, CCM executive director Jim Wilson argued the retail
  snack
  > bar is intended to be a place where people can meet and discuss
  > religious-based topics. The commissioners, based on Wilson's
  testimony, came
  > to the conclusion the retail portion operates at cost or for less,
  like a
  > charitable organization, and should be tax exempt.
  >
  > Lund said she was flabbergasted by the decision. Although discussed
  at the
  > hearing last week, operation of Atlas School on the property was
  not made a
  > part of the commissioners' deliberations Monday. She believes the
  school to
  > be a private, for-profit institution.
  >
  > "I think they just forgot," Lund said.
  >
  > The commissioners took their time in debating whether to grant the
  > exemptions to all three parcels of Faith Ministries. The discussion
  centered
  > on some of the property being rented to for-profit organizations.
  In the
  > end, all three were granted tax-exempt status.
  >
  > Huskey and Lund said they are looking forward to the appeal process
  on all
  > the properties the commissioners granted tax exempt status to.
  >
  > "We won't stop this time," Lund said.
  >
  > ----------------------------------------------------------
  >
  > Take care, Moscow.
  >
  > Tom Hansen
  > Moscow, Idaho
  >
  > “I think one of the best ways to support education is to make
  successful
  > private schools like Logos prosper through tax exemption.”
  >
  > - Donovan Arnold (July 11, 2005)
  >
  >
  >
  > _____________________________________________________
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  > ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

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