State court rules church’s multi-use building taxable
A North Union Township church will have to pay taxes to Fayette County on two portions of a building that formerly were ruled exempt from real estate taxes. The Commonwealth Court has ruled that Connellsville Street Church of Christ has to pay for two sections of a multi-use building it owns because those sections are not primarily used for religious worship.
A parsonage used by the visiting pastor at the church and occasionally for youth lock-ins and an unfinished section of the building that may one day be a Christian school or a library are not tax-exempt, the court ruled.
“The parsonage can be equitably separated from the rest of the building. Since this space is not used primarily as a place of worship, it is taxable,” wrote Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt.
The unfinished portion of the building also can be taxed, wrote Leavitt, because what it could be used for in the future does not apply in determining if it is taxable now.
A fellowship hall also contained in the multi-use building remained exempt from taxation because it is used regularly for Bible study.
The county appealed a ruling from Judge John F. Wagner Jr. that exempted the whole of the church’s multi-use building from taxes. Wagner, ruled the Commonwealth Court judges, “erred in (his) understanding and application of the law.”
The case came about after the county’s July 2002 reassessment. At that time, the real estate value of the church went from $44,000 to $195,520. The church itself is not taxable under the state Constitution because it is a place of worship.
The value of the multi-use building also rose considerably, from $7,600 to $98,700. The church appealed, disagreeing with the multi-use building value and the determination that the multi-use building was taxable.
The county assessment appeals board lowered the value to $88,700 but refused to change the designation of the building. The church appealed both the $88,700 assessment and the designation of the multi-use building to court.
When Wagner heard the case, he ruled that the multi-use building was exempt from taxation but did not rule on the assessment.
The Commonwealth Court remanded the case to Wagner and ordered that he rule on the assessment value of the multi-use building.