Home
Pilgrim Pines Ordered to Pay $360,000 in Property Taxes
SWANZEY, NH (February 27, 2002) - Pilgrim Pines Conference Center today received a demand for payment of nearly $360,000 in past-due property taxes, Covenant News Service has learned.
The "Notice of Impending Tax" from the Town of Swanzey also includes interest on the past due amount covering the years 1996 to 1999. The center was given 30 days to make payment.
Pilgrim Pines, a year-round conference center, is part of the East Coast Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The New Hampshire Supreme Court in January upheld a lower court ruling that Pilgrim Pines is obligated to pay property taxes from 1996 to 1999.
A separate ruling regarding property taxes for the years 2000 and 2001 is in process, said Bob DeJong, Pilgrim Pines executive director. If Pilgrim Pines does not pay the taxes, the town has the right to sell the property, according to DeJong. The East Coast Conference, which represents Pilgrim Pines in the court case, has stated that it will not allow the property to go to a tax sale, DeJong added.
The Town of Swanzey began to tax property and buildings at Pilgrim Pines in November 1996 after not having taxed the site since it was opened in 1957. The Town of Swanzey argued that the conference center does not have a charitable purpose and thus should not fall under the realm of church-run camps. Church-run camps have been entitled to a property tax exemption in all cases.
The conference has argued that there is no legal ground for the town to tax the conference center.
For more information about the case, call DeJong at Pilgrim Pines, 603-352-0443.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
