A Note on Tax Exemptions for Churches

[MineralMan]

Churches in my area pay no property taxes on property that is used in some way for worship. Zero. Since the costs that property taxes fund continue in the area, and frequently rise, that means that privately owned businesses and properties are paying the church's share of those taxes.

Meanwhile, the church enjoys fire and police protection and receives other benefits, which are funded through property taxes.

Where I live, churches are also exempt from street maintenance fees, which are assessed annually. There is a church a block and a half from my home, which takes up half a city block on two streets and and an entire city block on a third street. Those streets still require maintenance, but the costs are assessed on the neighbors of that church, rather than on the church.

The local Roman Catholic diocese also owns a number of other properties in my city, including apartment buildings, schools and other facilities. To avoid paying property taxes on those properties, it has "chapels" in those buildings, which qualify as a religious use and makes the property exempt from those taxes.

Other property owners, Catholic or not, collectively make up for those lost property tax revenues through higher property taxes on their non-exempt property. In a very real, material sense, they are forced to subsidize religious organizations.

I find this offensive. It's also costly. I have no religious beliefs at all, so I benefit in no way from those churches and church-owned properties. Yet, I am assessed to pay for their share of the cost of local government.