http://www.recordonline.com/news/20180904/watchtower-disputes-200k-tax-bill-from-newburgh
TOWN OF NEWBURGH — The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York
is challenging nearly $200,000 in fire and other special district taxes
assessed for three Town of Newburgh properties, including two hotels
the organization bought to house volunteers helping build its world
headquarters in Warwick.
In a petition filed in Orange County
Court last month, the umbrella organization for Jehovah’s Witnesses
claimed that the town “either unintentionally as a mistake or
intentionally and without lawful authority” miscoded the former Hilton
on Crossroads Court and the former Hampton Inn on Route 300 for 2016,
2017 and this year.
With a combined market value of nearly $23
million, the hotel properties were not assessed town, county and school
taxes for those years. But the town assessed $196,000 charges for the
Orange Lake Fire District and lighting and water districts during those
years.
Newburgh also assessed $1,600 in special district taxes
over three years for a vacant commercial property Watchtower owns at
Route 17K and Route 300.
“Petitioner would not be required to pay
the resulting unjust charges if its exemption from taxes had been
justly, correctly, and lawfully granted and administered,” Watchtower’s
attorneys wrote in the organization’s petition in county court.
Watchtower
bought the two hotel properties in 2014 as it built its 1.6
million-square-foot headquarters on Kings Drive in Warwick. Market value
for the Route 300 hotel property is $7,378,500 and for the Crossroads
Court hotel $15,435,300, according to county property records.
The
organization applied for exemption under a section of state real
property tax law covering property used “exclusively for religious,
charitable, hospital, educational, or moral or mental improvement of
men, women or children purposes.”
Instead, the town gave the
organization an exemption under a different section of state law
covering property owned by a religious organization but used for
residential purposes. That exemption still required the payment of
special district taxes.
Watchtower applied in January for refunds of special district payments made on the three properties in 2016 and 2017.
Its application was denied in a March letter from John McCarey, the
county’s director of Real Property Tax Service. McCarey said that
Watchtower’s initial exemption application in 2015 was approved for all
but special district taxes and that the organization failed to challenge
that determination at the time.
“I believe that all religions
improve the quality of life in the area,” Newburgh Supervisor Gil
Piaquadio said. “However, in my opinion, not contributing towards
volunteer fire districts who would be called upon to fight a fire in
these multi-story hotels is unfair to the fire districts and taxpayers.”
Although
Watchtower’s headquarters in Warwick is complete, the two hotel
properties are still being used, the organization said in its court
filing.
Volunteers “supporting” the headquarters and Watchtower
facilities in the towns of Fishkill, Patterson and Shawangunk used the
Hampton, according to court documents. The former Hilton houses
volunteers visiting the area for retreats, according to Watchtower.
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