About OurProperty Bill
Recently Central College Presbyterian Church received the long-awaited Final Determination by the Ohio Department of Taxation on our request to exempt the 27-acre BIYTC purchase from property tax. The decision of the Department of Taxation was 12 acres not taxed, 15 acres subject to property tax. For the past three years our land purchase has been under the review of the Franklin County Auditor in regard to maintaining its tax-exempt status while under the ownership of the Ohio School For the Deaf Alumni Association (OSDAA). Transferring the property places the tax status in review by the County Auditor. After title to the land was transferred, the church applied for tax-exempt status on our new acquisition. The review process allows for any interested party to be considered in the decision, because a taxable property would generate tax funding for entities that benefit from property taxes.On the newly acquired property are cell telephone towers. An easement exists, and in the past as well as now, included the abandoned road (South Street) immediately to the north of the sanctuary. This old road has been the north entrance to our property for parking, etc. We are yet to be notified of the new tax bill as the County  Auditor goes through a “split listing” process. Our Church Administrator has calculated the annual tax bill to be approximately $38,000 per year commencing 2009. No tax penalties were allowed in the Final Determination. Our best advice, weighed by our Trustees and Session is to pay the current obligation, seeking payment terms that would not include penalties and interest expense. In the meantime, we will seek strategies that might restore tax-exempt status for the entire 27 acres. At the point of purchase, the OSDAA retained the income from the cell towers. We granted the easement to them under the belief that we would retain tax exemption, based on our tax-exempt status. We will actively strive to regain that status and explore other remedies for relief. In the meantime, we will “render to Caesar, that which is Caesar’s.”