Alaska Churches in ACLU-Led Legal Battle Over Property Taxes
by Allie Martin
August 4, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Churches in Alaska are fighting an effort by the ACLU and some residents to challenge a statewide law that gives tax exemption for real property owned by a religious organization. The American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs claim the exemptions for private property that is the residence of an educator in a private religious or parochial school violate federal and state equal protection and establishment clauses. They are seeking a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the exemptions, as well as attorney's fees and costs.
The case involves several churches, among them Anchorage Baptist Temple (ABT), which is represented by Florida-based Liberty Counsel. ABT owns six residences used for housing teachers who work at the church's Anchorage Christian School, a K-12 school with about 700 students. The houses allow the school to recruit and retain a well-qualified staff despite not being able to offer a salary and benefits package comparable to that offered by public schools. If the exemption statute for these houses is invalidated, ABT would have to divert more than $20,000 annually from its ministries to cover property taxes.
Mat Staver, founder of the legal firm, says the ACLU has a clear agenda with the lawsuit -- and that this legal action is just one step in a series of steps the liberal group is taking in its attempt to revoke the tax-exempt status of churches.
Mat Staver | |
"They are saying that this ministry outreach of the church -- the educational mission and these parsonages that are allowed for the educators -- should not be tax exempt," Staver explains. "But the problem with not being tax-exempt is they are part and parcel and central to the ministry of the church," he explains, "and if you attack this particular exemption, you ultimately nibble away against the broader tax exemption of churches." The Liberty Counsel spokesman contends the ACLU "does not care about children" and is trying to silence the educational ministry of churches. For that reason, he says, the litigation must be fought.
"We believe that this law is constitutional. We believe that it is appropriate to recognize the tax-exempt status of this aspect of the church's mission," he says. "And we know that the ACLU's ultimate agenda is not just simply to stop at these parsonages for the educators, but also to revoke the tax-exempt status of churches in general."
Liberty Counsel is also representing Bible Baptist Church of Fairbanks and Valley Baptist Tabernacle in Palmer in the same lawsuit.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
