CHURCHES TAX-EXEMPTION CATEGORIES NEED DRASTIC REFORMING
CHURCHES TAX-EXEMPTION CATEGORIES NEED DRASTIC REFORMING
by JAMES A. MARPLES
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Having attended Churches at numerous locations within Upshur and Gregg Counties; as well as congregations in several other U.S. States —- I’d like to say at on the onset of this editorial commentary that I believe that Churches, Synagogues, legitimate civic/fraternal/non-profit entities which show a current, ongoing benefit to the PUBLIC-INTEREST should continue to have their primary functioning “base” remain “tax-exempt“. However, starting in the mid-1980s and continuing to the present-day, American lawmakers have been too lax with extending such designations now known as 501(c)(3) exemptions. Again, I fully support “Sanctuaries” (the actual base of worship or ceremonial meetings being tax-exempt). I’m on church membership rolls myself; but, the time has come when we, as Americans, face up to the fact that we cannot afford to extend this privilege to social halls/ basketball or pickleball courts, classrooms, or even music practice-rooms in mega-churches simply by labeling everything as a “ministry”.
Music/fellowship/other matters pertaining to the reverence and worship to Deity can be done in the sanctuary-room proper. That SHOULD REMAIN TAX-EXEMPT regardless whether attendance is one person or 500 congregants. However, lavish kitchens, dining areas which only sporadically feed 30 people or more and as large as some professional cafes (yet vacant a great majority of the year) along with widespread asphalt parking-lots that are only used four days a month (if that much) are wasteful beneficiaries of pork-politics.. People don’t realize that taxpayers basically traded-off cropland or livestock grazing-land revenues ..for largely unused floors and blacktop. It is time to pay the piper. God expects us to be good financial stewards. Many people shriek, but essential reforms are needed.
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Having attended Churches at numerous locations within Upshur and Gregg Counties; as well as congregations in several other U.S. States —- I’d like to say at on the onset of this editorial commentary that I believe that Churches, Synagogues, legitimate civic/fraternal/non-profit entities which show a current, ongoing benefit to the PUBLIC-INTEREST should continue to have their primary functioning “base” remain “tax-exempt“. However, starting in the mid-1980s and continuing to the present-day, American lawmakers have been too lax with extending such designations now known as 501(c)(3) exemptions. Again, I fully support “Sanctuaries” (the actual base of worship or ceremonial meetings being tax-exempt). I’m on church membership rolls myself; but, the time has come when we, as Americans, face up to the fact that we cannot afford to extend this privilege to social halls/ basketball or pickleball courts, classrooms, or even music practice-rooms in mega-churches simply by labeling everything as a “ministry”.
Music/fellowship/other matters pertaining to the reverence and worship to Deity can be done in the sanctuary-room proper. That SHOULD REMAIN TAX-EXEMPT regardless whether attendance is one person or 500 congregants. However, lavish kitchens, dining areas which only sporadically feed 30 people or more and as large as some professional cafes (yet vacant a great majority of the year) along with widespread asphalt parking-lots that are only used four days a month (if that much) are wasteful beneficiaries of pork-politics.. People don’t realize that taxpayers basically traded-off cropland or livestock grazing-land revenues ..for largely unused floors and blacktop. It is time to pay the piper. God expects us to be good financial stewards. Many people shriek, but essential reforms are needed.
Declaring something as “tax-exempt” sounds noble. And, for the bare-bones room in which a worship or fraternal ceremony or community-hub has as its epicenter: it is worthy. It is “the Extras” which we cannot afford to subsize. All I’m saying is that we, as Americans, must tighten our belts and ONLY grant 501(c)(3) status to the primary-base of operations. It may cause some people to grimace: But, the ‘frills’ of ‘extras’ SHOULD BE TAXED at the for-profit tax-rate. Anything less, is robbing Peter to subside Paul.
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