OH MY GOD!!!! THEY DID IT!!!
I've been saying for a long time that Watchtower behavior is going to endanger their tax status. So that's how the government is doing it now.
Rather than take away their tax exempt status, which could only be done by an incredible amount of litigation, as happened with another religon, the government just won't let religons HAVE any land.
HOW BRILLIANT HOW DELICIOUSLY BRILLIANT!!!! WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT!!!
NIMBY...let homeowners know that if a Kingdom Hall goes up on that neighboring peice of property, just how much tax money is going to be lost compared to, say, a home or business. LET homeowners know that because your neighbor JW conducts that annoying bookstudy in his home (with all the Tuesday night parking ruckus) that he can claim tax break on his property, and there's ANOTHER loss of income for the community.
It wouldn't be so bad if that's all it was, HOWEVER...if there's a fire in that KH, Watchtower gonna call the Fire Department it doesn't want to pay for. If there's an apostate sitting in the Hall, refusing to leave, Watchtoer gonna call the police department it doesn't want to pay for.
In Watchtower's defense, tho, they still have to pay taxes on their utilities, and they have still have to pay taxes on construction materials, and anything else they buy that isn't edible---or donated.
BEFORE YOU TRY AND REMOVE THE STICK FROM MY ARSE, REMOVE THE TELEPHONE POLE FROM YOUR OWN ARSE.