[m-m-online] Special Notice

[Minister to Minister online]

CHURCH PROPERTY TAX ALERT #2

Greetings brothers and sisters,

House Bill 1606 successfully navigated the rough waters of a hurried and 
full House of Representatives calendar on Thursday and Friday of last week.

To remind you, HB1606 is legislation which protects all Texas churches 
from paying ad valorem property taxes on land and improvements which are 
contiguous to the property on which they worship.

Currently the Texas Tax Code allows local tax districts the discretion 
to levy property taxes on any congregational land which is not used 
specifically for worship (so that softball fields, fellowship halls, 
etc. can be legally taxed by an aggressive district). These taxes are 
collected at “fair market value.”


THE NEXT STEP is to contact your State Senator and ask for their 
enthusiastic support of “House Bill 1606.”

OK, but how does one go about this…

FIRST, follow the link: 
http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/Members.htm#FYI
At the bottom of this page is a search engine which will locate your 
“Texas State Senator.”

SECOND, using the “capitol phone” number, call your senator’s Austin 
office, and ask for his/her legislative aid.

THIRD, inform the legislative aid that you are calling to ask for your 
senator’s enthusiastic support of HB 1606, which was received by the 
Senate Monday (May 14). If the aid has questions about HB 1606, educate 
them on the bill and it’s protection of Texas church’s from ad valorem 
taxation. Remember, there are thousands of pieces of legislation which 
Senators look over during a single legislative session. They will not 
remember our bill unless we remind them of it’s content.


If you need further information, please see the supporting documents 
below. Thank you for your time and your willingness to call your 
senator’s office.

I will bring further updates as this legislation moves through the 
Senate, and to Governor Perry’s desk. The 80th Legislative session ends 
soon, so we must act quickly if we are to protect our churches.


Joy & peace in Jesus,

Rev. Randall Bard
Christ Lutheran Church, Fort Worth
fastpastor at hotmail.com
817-896-0744 (cell #, and I am happy to talk with you on this issue!)


Supporting Data and Documents on the taxation of Texas churches:

FAQ #1: Are churches in our state really paying ad valorem property taxes?

Yes! Beautiful Savior, Arlington is a good example. They have 90 or so 
in worship on Sunday, but because they are in Tarrant County, their 
local tax district has aggressively pursued them, billing them for as 
much as $20,000+ in a single tax year! If you wish, Brian Cummins would 
be happy to share their story with you--817-465-3164.


FAQ #2: What counties are aggressively pursuing churches? In the past 
several years I have heard from pastors in Tarrant, Dallas, Harris, & 
Travis counties who have dealt with this issue.


FAQ #3: We live in a rural county. I don’t think that our local 
Assessor/Collector would be so bold as to try to collect taxes from the 
churches in our area. The truth is that Assessor/Collectors DO NOT 
actually assess the value of property, nor do they decide who pays what 
or when. In Texas local area tax district offices are responsible for 
informing the Assessor/Collector of a taxpayer’s legal burden. The 
people who run these offices are not elected officials as an 
Assessor/Collector are, and therefore can be very hard to influence.


FAQ #4: Why are tax districts going after churches? I can only give you 
my opinion…for what that’s worth. We live in an increasingly secular 
society where “Church” no longer can expect the protections our 
grandparents enjoyed. With the pressure being applied by public school 
boards looking for funding, local tax districts will be (remember, this 
is my opinion) seeking ways to increase revenue. Those who are not 
specifically protected by the law will be fair game.



FAQ #5: If we are getting the law changed, why are we only asking for a 
10 or 15 year exemption? Several of you have inquired about why HB 1606 
allows for a temporary abatement. This is an excellent question. Six 
years ago we settled for a temporary abatement because the then Speaker 
Pete Laney would not allow a bill calling for a permanent abatement to 
proceed through the House of Representatives.

Bill Zedler, the rep who has worked tirelessly on this issue, suggested 
a five year plan, which easily passed the House and Senate in that 78th 
session. I believe that a permanent abatement is possible, but it will 
take months of prep time and lots of lobbying. Perhaps in the 81st 
session, we can be better prepared to move on this issue.


To follow HB1606’s progress follow this link:

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB1606



To read the Property Tax Code as it relates to churches, follow this link:

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/tc06/ch11b4.htm#11.20



Notice the wording for exemptions,

“The real property that is owned by the religious organization, is used 
primarily as a place of regular religious worship, and is reasonably 
necessary for engaging in religious worship;



The property owned by churches includes much space and many items which 
are not specifically used “in worship.” This is the open door that at 
least three tax districts in our state have used to pursue Christian 
congregations.