[Vision2020] Farmers Markets Put Churches in Quandary

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (June 18, 2009) Spokesman Review.

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Farmers markets put churches in quandary
Parking lot sales violate tax exemption

OLYMPIA – State tax officials recently gave several Spokane-area churches
an ultimatum: Stop running farmers markets in your parking lots or start
paying tax on that land.

“We have no choice here. The law is really clear,” said Mike Gowrylow, a
spokesman for the state Department of Revenue. “When you’ve got a
commercial business – no matter how small or homegrown – operating on
tax-exempt property, then it runs afoul of the law.”

Two of the farmers markets – one in Millwood and the one in downtown
Spokane – will stay where they are, according to the Rev. Craig Goodwin,
of Millwood Community Presbyterian Church.

He said his church will pay the $700 or so in taxes on its parking lot to
enable the farmers market to continue.

“I’m familiar with the Bible passage ‘Pay unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,’
and we’re willing to do that,” he said. But he said the markets are a
crucial community asset that should be exempt.

The nonprofit group that runs the downtown Spokane market, Goodwin said,
has also agreed to come up with about $3,000 a year to cover the taxes on
the First Covenant Church’s parking lot.

The fate of the South Hill’s South Perry Farmers Market is less clear.
Manager Jenny Edgren said Tuesday she’d been told by the Christ Community
Church “that we basically have to find another place.” Efforts to reach a
church official for comment were unsuccessful.

The issue cropped up three weeks ago, after a state tax auditor paid a
routine visit to Goodwin’s church in Millwood and saw the Wednesday
market.

“He basically said, ‘What’s going on here?’ ” Goodwin said. (Goodwin
blogs about locally grown food on a Web site owned by the Cowles Co.,
which also owns The Spokesman-Review.)

The churches themselves are not at risk of losing their tax-exempt status,
Gowrylow said. The focus is just on where the farmers markets are: in the
parking lot.

One local lawmaker said the Legislature might be able to help.

“I hope that it doesn’t disrupt the farmers markets. Those are very
important for the neighborhoods that they’re in,” said Senate Majority
Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane. “I’m going to look into it and see if there
is a possibility of crafting some sort of exception in state law or
resolving the issue.”

Goodwin agrees that the farmers markets are an important focal point for
communities, local food and families. “The way it really strengthens the
bonds of the community seem to go beyond the bounds of any old commercial
activity,” he said.

At the South Perry Farmers Market, Edgren said that organizers are
discussing their options. They’ve reluctantly started to look for other
sites.

It’s a shame, she said. After four years there, opening day this month
featured the highest number of vendors: 20. People sell eggs, seedlings,
vegetables, meat, pastries, chocolate, herbs, fruits and vegetables. A
chiropractor is slated to open a booth there.

“It really brings people together,” she said.

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Joyce Thomas checks on her inventory of fiber, handmade hats and scarfs at
the Millwood Farmers Market on Wednesday in the parking lot of Millwood
Presbyterian Church. The church will pay $700 in taxes on its parking lot
so the market can continue.

http://tinyurl.com/mdq634

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Seeya at Farmers' Market, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

“The way (a farmers market) really strengthens the bonds of the community
seem to go beyond the bounds of any old commercial activity.”

– The Rev. Craig Goodwin, Millwood Community Presbyterian Church