ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
One of the best arguments for separation of church and state in the United States is the long-standing tradition of churches not having to pay property taxes.
We Americans apparently don’t have a problem with permitting places of religious worship to be tax exempt. Those who suggest churches pay property taxes like everybody else usually are subject to scorn and derision.
Yet at recent meetings of the Hopkins Township Board, two citizen visitors and Trustee Bob Modreske very clearly expressed their opinion that the Gun Lake Tribe of Potawatomis “should pay their taxes like everybody else.”
There seems to be a resentful notion that the Gun Lake Tribe should be regarded as a business because it is the owner of the Gun Lake Casino. Therefore, it should pay property taxes, “like everybody else.”
The Gun Lake Tribe has gone through a lengthy process to have each of its non-gaming properties regarded by the federal government as exempt from taxes as a 5013c entity.
Churches enjoy the same exemption from paying property taxes, so to be fair, why don’t Modreske and the two citizens insist places of worship pay their taxes as well? The Gun Lake Tribe, in this instance, is not much different than a church in the eyes of the law.
Some prominent individuals in our history have suggested churches be taxed. I am much more in favor of a means testing compromise, in which those institutions that rake in a certain amount of money annually be taxed at a gradually rising rate. I have no appetite whatsoever for running small “mom and pop” churches out of business.
But as long as churches and religious leaders continue to meddle in the political arena, they also should be made to “pay to play.” I cite an example from about a dozen years ago when then-State Rep. Brian Calley was special guest and musical performer at the Nashville Baptist Church that boasted as many as 900 members. You might say he had a captive audience.
Though Calley asserted he should be allowed to testify his personal faith in a church, the incident clearly was as unfair and massive political advantage to the candidate, who later became lieutenant governor of Michigan. This is a little bit like what comedian George Carlin was talking about when he insisted, “the game is rigged.”
So it was with come consternation that I heard Modreske and two Hopkins Township citizens say the Township Board should continue its legal fight against the Gun Tribe and the federal decision to have the Nowak property at 129th Avenue and 12th Street taken into trust.
Citizen Bob Beck, who has been very vocal about the matter over the past year, asserted last month that the Township Board has wasted $22,800 of taxpayers’ money on legal fees involving this fight with the tribe.
I agree with Beck. And I assert that if we make the Tribe pay taxes, then we should apply the same rules to churches.
I agree that all churches, charities, other 501c3 groups should pay tax on net incomes over $5,000,000. It should be at a lower rate than the suggested 50% on personal and corporate income over $5,000,000. $5,000,000 is the amount Mitt Romney called upper limit of “middle income.”
This may be an area where my lack of education shows. As I understand it, Native American tribes can become established as sovereign nations unto themselves, thus being able to place land into trust and having the rights to establish casinos to benefit their nations. If that is true, why in the world would a sovereign nation have to pay taxes to the US?
Churches are not recognized as nations unto themselves, as far as I know. They are organizations of people who profess a particular religious affiliation.
How can the two be equated where paying taxes is concerned?
Churches are businesses and should pay taxes.
It’s unfortunate that Mr. Modreske and at least two other residents missed the legal fact that Native American tribes including the
Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish band of the Potawatomi are not “like the everybody else.”
Through treaties with the Federal government and legal agreements with the state government, the Gun Lake Tribe has special privileges, including building and operating a casino/entertainment/restaurant venue.
Last I checked, the Gun Lake Casino is one of the largest employers in Allegan County. The people employed at the casino do pay their fair share of taxes. Sales Tax, Fuel Tax, Federal and state income tax just like Mr. Modreske.
The Gun Lake Casino just announced its third expansion that will result in more jobs during construction and additional jobs at the casino when construction is completed.
While Mr. Modreske and others my be unhappy about the casino’s existence, the treaties and agreements made with the federal and state government supersede the township’s legal authority.
Taxing churches is a touchy subject, however, more than a few folks have found there is big money to be made. L.Ron Hubbard’s Church of Scientology was based on extracting money from followers using the church as a tax dodge. Pat Robertson, Jerry Farwell and Muskegon’s own Jim Bakker controlled millions in tax free assets.
And so it goes