The NJ Government shut down this week due to a budget impasse. It seems they can’s pay their own bills, so they shut down the casinos, the beaches, parks, etc.They can’t find the money they need. Hmmm… Maybe, if religious institutions paid their own taxes, there’s be enough money to run the state.Hmmmm.
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Who would figure that the governor of Indiana would be the one legislator in the state to veto an anti-church tax and how do you figure it would happen in Indiana no less. Wow. Good for him.
The solution to the problem of taxing churches uniformly and causing small ones to close, IMO, would be to not tax them uniformly. Tax big churches more than smaller ones, but then the bigger ones would cry foul and that they’re being treated unfairly. At least in those cases churches might end up fighting each other instead of uniting to fight for political power. Aaaah…a nice world that would be. Oh well.
dems and repubs lack fiscal discipline.i wonder how much longer we can remain a great power.the history of others doesn’t seem to bode well for us.we seem to be making
the same stupid mistakes they did.
scobysnx–
Do you mind saying in which town north of Tampa you grew up in?
I grew up in Brooksville (also a town north of Tampa.)
I graduated from UCF -in 1997, when I was in my 30′s.
How do you think GA compares to FL?
i agree with those here that say if you tax a church’s income, they may have a reasonable legal argument for disregarding separation of church and state (you know that fictitious, imaginary concept that we atheists have). i wouldn’t want to give them any solid grounds for cramming their beliefs down our throats.
however, i would be in favor of them paying a nominal LOCAL property tax to help with things like road maintenance, traffic control, law enforcement, etc.
After reading the article, I have to say that I am not against the idea. There’s a solution for ya, 15 acres is more than enough. If you have a 37 acre lot that you require a shuttle to pick up people to move to and from the church you can get a tax bill.
Mega churches get taxed for their “opulence” and the little guys get left alone. I like it
Actually, I grow up in Spring Hill. When did you live in Brooksville. They main difference between Ga and Fl is that Ga is much more familly orientated. I have a 1 month old and a 2 year old and wanted my children to grow up in a place like this (I could do with out all the religion here though.). In Florida I never saw my neighbor, here I do all the time.
pixel,
My wife graduated from UCF, class of 2000. Small world.
***** OFF TOPIC ******
Someone say choice…???
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50947
Churches should certainly be taxed. They are certainly businesses (especially how they are operated nowadays).
Phreed-hem,
Ahem. By far, the most common form of abortion is miscarriage. That makes your God, by far, the largest abortion provider in the world.
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t God responsible for the miracle of life? Then he is responsible for all the miscarriages as well. That’s YOUR God that murders all those babies, Phreddy, not mine.
phred,
it’s either abortion or drown/suffocate them at birth, backwoods China is the same way.
This isn’t a problem of abortion but of sexism that still lingers from age old myths & mentalities.
Sounds familiar huh?
scobysnx
I lived in the “boonies” west of B’ville (near Hwy. 19) from 1973 to 1978. Then I lived in Weeki Wachee (really close to Spring Hill) for a couple of years.
My siblings attended Springstead High for a couple of years.
Hope you’re enjoying Georgia! It is a really pretty state.
ForensicAtheist–
Do you live in FL?
Yeah, small world indeed! When we were on vacation last month we went to Edinburgh to see the castle and walk down the Royal Mile. While walking down the Mile, my son ran into a classmate! We couldn’t believe it!! Really weird!
about that eminent domain issue:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9492421/detail.html
ARVADA, Colo. — The city of Arvada is considering using a church’s property for a public library parking lot.
The eminent domain issue will be highlighted at Monday night’s city council meeting.
The city is building a new public library at West 57th Avenue and Webster Street in Olde Town Arvada. It wants to use property that belongs to Shrine of St. Anne Catholic Church for library parking.
The 35,500-square-foot site is currently being used as a church parking lot but the church said it may want to build on it in the future, according to the Arvada Free Press.
The church and the city have been negotiating over the issue for 18 months but the city has finally taken a step to allow the condemnation process to begin because the library opens in the fall.
Anyone who wants to voice an opinion on the issue is invited to attend the meeting will be at the Arvada City Hall at 7:30 p.m.
An attorney representing the church in negotiations had previously told the newspaper that the city council has already made up its mind to move forward.
“They’re condemning this even though the city owns a piece of property of equal size that is adjacent to this and could build their parking ramp on that structure,” Robert Frie told the Arvada Free Press.
The city land near the church is planned as a site for future housing, city officials have said.
UPDATE ON ABOVE………..
ARVADA, Colo. — The city of Arvada and a church have agreed to share the church’s property that the city wanted to use for a public library parking lot.
The city was considering the use of eminent domain to take the space from the church. The issue was scheduled to be heard at the city council meeting Monday evening, but both sides signed a letter of intent to share the space earlier Monday.
The city is building a new public library at West 57th Avenue and Webster Street in Olde Town Arvada. It wanted to use property that belongs to Shrine of St. Anne Catholic Church for library parking.
The 35,500-square-foot site is currently being used as a church parking lot, but the church said it may have wanted to build on it in the future, according to the Arvada Free Press.
The church and the city have been negotiating over the issue for 18 months, but the city had finally taken a step to allow the condemnation process to begin because the library opens in the fall. That process stopped short when the city and the church came to an agreement.
“It’s really a wonderful end to a two to three year negotiation process that’s been going on when we realized that the library was coming to Old Town and we knew we needed extra parking,” said Arvada spokesperson Maria Vander.
Under the agreement, the City of Arvada will lease the lot for 15 years and will do extensive repairs to it.
An attorney representing the church in negotiations had previously told the Arvada Free Press that the City Council had already made up its mind to move forward.
“They’re condemning this even though the city owns a piece of property of equal size that is adjacent to this and could build their parking ramp on that structure,” Robert Frie told the Arvada Free Press.
The city land near the church is planned as a site for future housing, city officials have said.
_____________________________________
Someone got a sweet deal here. The city will pay them for 15 years on the lease AND make major improvements to the parking lot.
The church got the deal, the taxpayers foot the bill. Sound familiar?
What was that about the “poor” churches?