Gasiorowski letter: Church and state
On March 2, Emmanuel Episcopal Church received a letter from the Boise County Assessor and a new application approved by the County commissioners. This included a Property Tax Exemption Application and in it the county is demanding a copy of articles of incorporation, by-laws, annual report, proof of current IRS standing and year-end financial statement along with 17 other required items. In my opinion this is a blatant attempt by the county to ignore the constitutional separation of church and state. If the application is not received by April 15th, (nice to see they will be working on a Saturday), then the county will begin to tax all who do not submit to their demands and approval. I foresee a few more lawsuits in the future if this is allowed to persist. What right do the county commissioners have to demand churches’ annual reports, some of which contain the donation amounts from all its members and their names and addresses, and the church’s financial records? Do you want the commissioners to review and approve your church’s operation, and if they do not approve, then it will have to pay property taxes?
Dan Gasiorowski, Placerville
This story was originally published March 12, 2017 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Gasiorowski letter: Church and state."