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The Rev. Gregory Lewis of Souls to the Polls speaks during an Oct. 26 protest at City Hall. “There needs to be a better system,” Lewis says. (Photo by PrincessSafiya Byers)
Some Milwaukee ministers are accusing the City of Milwaukee of illegally taxing religious institutions and then foreclosing on those that fail to pay.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. is expected to join local ministers from Pastors United, the NAACP Milwaukee branch, Milwaukee Inner city Congregations Allied for Hope, or MICAH, and Souls to the Polls during a protest Tuesday of what they are calling “Tax and Take” by the city.
The pastors include the Rev. Steven Tipton of El Bethel Church of God in Christ; the Rev. Gregory Lewis of St. Gabriel’s Church of God in Christ; and the Rev. David Stokes of Temple of Judah Church of God in Christ. All three have churches on the Northwest Side.
Tipton said he found out his church had been foreclosed after being awakened one Saturday morning by a phone call from another pastor interested in buying his church at 1501 W. Ring St.
“I wasn’t selling my church and I told him that,” said Tipton, who ministers to a congregation of about 50 members. “He told me that it was being sold by the city.”
Dumbfounded, Tipton went to City Hall.
“He was right. The city had taken my church,” he said. “During the blanket of the pandemic, they had taken it for owed taxes, and in order to get my building back, I had to pay them.”
While Tipton was able to pay off the debt, which he said was well over $10,000, to keep his church, he recognized that not all churches had the means to pay thousands of dollars to keep their buildings.
So he started an alliance with other faith leaders who had experienced the same thing. He said the group now had about 280 members.
Steve Miner, the assessment commissioner, said although churches are tax exempt, they must still meet the requirements to stay that way.
According to information provided by Miner from the Department of City Development, the city foreclosed on two churches in 2020 and both owners have their properties back. Data for 2021 was not available Monday.
‘There needs to be a better system’
Miner said the issue really comes down to a lack of communication.
“It’s helpful to have someone familiar with the statutes,” Miner said. “It’s difficult to comply with what you don’t understand.”
Every two years, churches are sent a form that needs to be completed in order to be considered tax exempt. But
Lewis and Tipton said many churches don’t receive the form or, if they do, it goes unnoticed.
“There needs to be a better system,” Lewis said. “Struggling churches don’t have secretaries, and that is why they do it.”
Lewis, the executive director of Souls to Polls, runs an adult day center for senior citizens out of his church, and Tipton operates a weekly food pantry after Sunday service.
“The church plays a huge role in our communities,” Lewis said during an earlier protest. “They act not only as a gathering space for community members but as counseling centers, food pantries and after school programs as well.”
According to Lewis, the issue is greater than filling out forms.
“The city finds any way to tax churches,” he said. “They try taxing you for the parking lot or the upper levels. It’s absurd.”
But Miner said the issue is far more complex.
“It’s unfair to have a child care center housed in a church be tax exempt but a child care center directly across the street be taxed,” he said. “It’s our job to make sure things are fair.”
Commenting on the quote attributed to Steve Miner, “the assessment commissioner”: “It’s unfair to have a child care center housed in a church be tax exempt but a child care center directly across the street be taxed. It’s our job to make sure things are fair.” The Constitution prohibits the government from taxing schools run by religious organizations. Some Catholic schools (and likely other parochial schools) have after care programs beyond the school day, it would seem unlikely that they are being taxed for that offering which is essentially a “child care center”.
My first thought, on reading the Assesment Commisioner’s commeny, was exactly what Beatrice said. Beyond schools, there are some huge, profitable enterprises in this and other cities (high-end elderly housing, for example, not to mention “Not For Profit” hospitals), that pay no taxes. THAT is where changes need to be made.
The ministers ignored the city’s very simple requirements to annually maintain their exemptions for the religious portions of their properties. .
No different than ignoring a traffic ticket. Both are symptoms of bad management and poor citizenship.
And is there really a problem? “The city foreclosed on two churches in 2020 and both owners have their properties back.”
When a church is in competition with a private business, of course it should pay exactly the same taxes or user fees.
Also, people who poop in the church bathroom should be paying the same sewerage user fee as people who poop at home.
Further, Rev. Tipton does not challenge the fact that his organization truly owed $10,000 in back taxes to the city, presumably for the non-exempt aspects of his church’s business.
The rest of the city’s taxpayers should be footing the bill for church-sponsored non-exempt properties and activities?
What about “Render unto Caesar . . .”?
It seems if the alliance of pastors picked a few of the best buildings they would have a better chance of maintaining the needed resources and skills to keep them in compliance with the law.