Taxing the Churches

Last Friday I received the following email from our esteemed councillor in Coquitlam, Richard Stewart, I have included it in it's length here, followed by my response to our mayor, Maxine Wilson of Coquitlam and her team of councillors individually. Following my letter to the mayor and councillors, I have included the replies I have received to date as well as the encouraging final letter from Council member Richard Stewart.

Re: Property Taxes on Churches

To Coquitlam Faith Communities:

City Council is about to review a policy that I believe is unfair, a policy that forces some churches to pay property taxes.

The issue arises because a local congregation undertook a court challenge of a 2004 Council policy, and the court has ordered Council to take another look at the issue.

The Westwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses recently took the City to court to challenge council’s 2004 policy that refused to extend to any new churches the property tax exemption enjoyed by established churches across the City.

A number of years ago, part of the parking lot for the Kingdom Hall on Dewdney Trunk Road was expropriated for the widening of Dewdney Trunk; when the congregation failed to get an adjacent piece of land rezoned to replace the expropriated parking lot, they were forced to relocate. They found an OCP-designated church site on Pipeline, applied for and received all necessary approvals and permits, and built their new building. But in July 2004, after the congregations had moved into their new church, City Council decided that the parking lots of new churches would no longer be exempt from property taxes.

Since 1881 in BC, churches and the land they sit on are exempt from property taxes. But effective 2004, the City will only exempt the land directly under any new church building, as they are required to do under the Community Charter; the rest of the property, including the parking lot, would be subject to tax. For the new Kingdom Hall, this means a tax bill of about $20,000 per year for the parking lot. And, to add insult to injury, since the parking lot is no longer exempt from property taxes, it is also subject to the new Translink Parking Tax.

Because existing churches are grandfathered, this policy doesn’t immediately affect my church, and it probably doesn’t affect yours unless it plans to expand in the near future. Nonetheless, I believe strongly that the policy is unfair, and needs to be repealed. Churches already pay for the utilities they use, like water and refuse collection; property taxes pay for a wide range of city services that churches do not use. As well, churches give contribute tremendously to our community in a number of ways, and I believe Council should abide by the spirit of the Community Charter and continue to exempt all churches from property taxes. At the next Committee meeting of City Council (this Monday, September 11), I intend to put forward a motion that Council rescind this policy, and that all churches in the City be exempt from property taxes on both the building and the ancillary land, parking areas, etc. Based on the results of that meeting, the matter will then be put before the next City Council meeting the following Monday, September 18.

I want to encourage residents of Coquitlam to let Council know of the strength of support there is in our community on this issue. I’ve included on the reverse the email addresses of all members of Council, as well as the fax number at City Hall, and would welcome your letters or emails on the issue.

Faith communities have had a longstanding right to tax exemption on their church properties, and I believe we can protect this important right by ensuring that all City Councillors understand how important the issue is for Coquitlam residents.

Yours truly,

Richard Stewart, Councillor
City of Coquitlam
Cell 604-603-4113

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September 8, 2006

Dear Mayor Maxine Wilson,

I am writing in reference to your up and coming discussion regarding the taxation of our city’s churches. I’m not sure why this subject would even come before council, considering the strong work that the several thousand church members do for Coquitlam, but perhaps if I were unaware of what churches and other service clubs do, I would question their tax exemption also.

Having served as a pastor in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam for 27 years, and also in leadership of the Tri-City Ministerial Association, I am very much cognizant of the millions of dollars that our sixty Tri-City churches save taxpayers every year. Many people do not realize that churches and clubs function effectively as community centres in the cities.

We provide free counseling, children’s groups, nursery care, daycares, preschools, youth programs, single events, 12-Step groups, weddings, funerals, senior’s groups, sports teams, drug, alcohol and victim care classes, ESL classes, hospice, hospital and crisis care, dinners, groceries and clothes for those in need, assimilation and friendship of our entire populace, as well as spiritual guidance and nurture for thousands of our citizens.

Our buildings alone, save the city multiplied millions of dollars in construction of community centres. They, and hundreds of staff members, are totally paid for by the free will gifts of constituents. The amount of money the Christian church gives to provide services for all of our Tri-Cities is well over ½ million dollars every month. That money is given generously by the thousands of tax-paying adherents of our sixty churches to provide absolutely free community service to every person in our cities, regardless of age, racial origin or income.

This is not to mention that the fallout from crime, alcoholism, drug addiction, family breakdown and other multi-million dollar tax costs are reduced substantially by the work of Christian and community organizations.

Paying no property tax is a small perk which serves to encourage and stimulate the continuation or our service clubs and churches. Thank you Maxine Wilson, Councillors and citizens for your grace and wisdom in exempting churches, service clubs and mosques from paying property taxes.

Sincerely,

Barry Buzza
Lead Pastor
Northside Church
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From:	'Asmundson, Brent'	Sent: Fri Sep 8 19:46
To:		l
Subject:	RE: Taxation of churches

Thank you for your email re: Church Taxation. I know the value of community work done by churches, as Daniela and I have attended your services at the Northside FourSquare Church and have seen the good work that you do. I do not agree with the previous council's decision, but I am going to be away until the 27th of September,I hope everthing works out.
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Dear Pastor Buzza,

Thank you for your e-mail. I wasn't on City Council when this policy was enacted. I don't agree with it and will be voting against it when it comes in front of Council in the next few weeks.

I'm fully aware and appreciative of the services and countless hours of volunteer work your congregation and others do for this community. I agree that a tax exemption for your church from the City is one way we can show our thanks for these good works.

I appreciated hearing from you. Please feel free to contact me any time.

Regards,

Doug Macdonell
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Barry,

Thank you for your letter.

I agree completely that community churches provide an essential service to all our residents and provide many services that benefit our community.

I firmly believe that when official organizations, groups and churches support the community they should be supported as much as possible.

If you would like to talk further about this, please call me at (604) 941-5937.

Sincerely,

Fin Donnelly

Councillor

City of Coquitlam
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September 11, 2006

Thank you for your email.

As you may be aware, I was a Mayor and a Council member for 24 years. During that time, we never ever had this problem as far as exempting churches from property tax. It was never an issue during my term. Last year’s Council, which I was not a member of, decided to attack certain places of worship.

I always opposed this kind of decision and always will.

Thank you,

Lou Sekora, Council Member
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Success!

I'm pleased to be able to report that at tonight's meeting of Committee of the Whole, Coquitlam City Council voted to accept my motion that churches once again be exempted from property taxes. The new policy is a reversal of a 2004 policy that placed a moratorium on new applicants for a "permissive property tax exemption", effectively denying the exemption to any churches that were not already on the list. If Council ratifies the new policy, all churches, mosques, temples and other "worship" buildings in Coquitlam will be treated equally, and will not be subject to taxation on their parking lots and landscaped areas.

I want to thank all those who sent letters on this subject, as I believe that a significant part of the reason for success in this first step was the number of articulate, respectful, and well-informed emails that Council members received in the past few days in support of the tax exemption.

What's next?

Tonight's vote puts the issue before Council at next Monday evening's Council meeting (starting at 7 pm, and televised on Shaw starting about an hour later). At next week's meeting, the nine members of Council will be asked to ratify the recommendation; if they do (and I hope and pray that they will), all Coquitlam faith communities will once again be exempt from property taxes on their church property.

It's important to remember that the majority (5) of Council members were on the 2004 City Council that adopted the moratorium, and that only six of nine Council members were present at tonight's vote. So the issue is still in question. It would be best if Council continued to receive letters and emails in favour of an equitable tax exemption policy, to ensure that the high level of support remains evident over the coming week. This may also influence other local governments in BC who may be considering adopting something similar to Coquitlam's 2004 policy.

Here are the email addresses for Council:
Mayor Maxine Wilson mwilson@coquitlam.ca
Councillor Brent Asmundson basmundson@coquitlam.ca
Councillor Fin Donnelly fdonnelly@coquitlam.ca
Councillor Louella Hollington lhollington@coquitlam.ca
Councillor Barrie Lynch blynch@coquitlam.ca
Councillor Doug Macdonell dmacdonell@coquitlam.ca
Councillor Mae Reid mreid@coquitlam.ca
Councillor Lou Sekora lsekora@coquitlam.ca
Councillor Richard Stewart rstewart@coquitlam.ca
Or by mail at Coquitlam City Hall, 3000 Christmas Way, Coquitlam V3B 7N2

If you have any questions about this or other issues before Council, please give me a call.

Again, thank you.

Richard