Levy Property Taxes on all Religious Organizations [View all]

[zwyziec]

One of the key reasons that Henry broke from the catholic church was the amount of money the church was taking out of England and away from his kingdom. The RCC church owned over 50% of the lands in England. Donations to the RCC went to the Pope. When he realized how much he was losing, he kinda lost his temper!

If you own property and pay property taxes in your area, you are subsidizing these religions, who use the roads, sewers and all other services that require bond issues to pay for. They are not carrying their weight. It is unfair and should be rectified.

I am all for taxing their property and the property of all religious tax exempt organizations. This is a local county issue.

Last year I did a study and concluded that there is over $1.5 trillion in untaxed church property in the USA. I contacted and talked to state tax assessors in four states. One of them told me that it is difficult to get the exact amount of untaxed property because they don't report it. He told me that if they did report it, "it would make people angry".

This includes all parishes, grade schools, universities, hospitals, cemeteries, diocesan offices, bishops residences, retreat centers, youth camps, temples, store fronts, mega-churches, mosques and even the companies who supply goods to the churches, like communion wafers, are tax exempt.

Then tax the profits they earn on their businesses like their gift shops and publications.

I'm keen on starting a local movement to get a referendum on levying a property tax on these organizations, with the money generated paying for local public schools and services.

Anyone else game? Perhaps we could get a movement going.