Why taxing churches would not be wise

Rev. Jan Kevin Schmidt is a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

“Let’s face it, the world needs help,” writes Kelly A. Powell (“It’s Time to Start Taxing Churches” Dec. 23). Yes, it does. But indiscriminately removing the tax exemption for religious institutions will not provide it. In fact, that would do just the opposite by hurting the ability of churches, mosques and synagogues to provide material assistance to those in need.

Our Founding Fathers saw the futility in taxing churches, as Powell correctly noted, “because of the presumed positive contributions they are making in the community.” But she went on to say that “Churches not only avoid taxes, but also dodge any requirement to disclose their finances as well.” As a Catholic priest, I can assure readers that neither of those statements is true of my Church.

First of all, Catholic parishes and other religious institutions do pay taxes in some cases. While real estate and buildings that are used for religious purposes are not taxed, property not used for these purposes is subject to property tax. For example, if a Catholic parish provides housing for a diocesan priest (one who does not take a vow of poverty), county property taxes are assessed and paid on that structure.  The priest himself must report the value of the housing on his personal income tax return and pay taxes accordingly.

Secondly, our parishes are very open about money. As a pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Anderson Township and at St. Margaret of York in Loveland, I made a point of being absolutely transparent about the finances of our parishes. There was weekly reporting of income and a yearly financial statement published in our bulletin, as required by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The Archdiocese itself, with about 500,000 members spanning the 19 counties of Southwestern Ohio, published a yearly financial statement in The Catholic Telegraph, our Catholic newspaper, for more than 30 years. That statement is now even more readily available online.

“The current tax code makes no distinction between authentic religions and fraudulent start-up churches,” Powell writes. This does give one pause, although it is hard to see how to establish such a standard without having the government decide what constitutes an “authentic religion.”

Also troubling is Powell’s assertion that some churches spend less than 1 percent of their revenues on charitable activities. The Catholic Church, however, is the largest provider of charitable assistance in the world. Just in Greater Cincinnati, a small portion of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio on average serves the needs of more than 43,000 people yearly. It provides mental health services and supports Su Casa Hispanic Center, the Second Harvest Food Bank, refugee resettlement services, family services, senior services and much more. Its annual report is also available online.

“Tax churches. Feed the world,” Powell writes. But last year Catholic Charities distributed over $50 million in food to the hungry in our local area. And this doesn’t come close to what each of our 211 parishes in the Archdiocese does on an individual local basis and through missionary and twinning opportunities in other parts of the country and the world.

While I can only speak of the Catholic Church of Cincinnati and what happens here in our Archdiocese, if “it’s time to start taxing churches” then you had better be ready to take on an additional burden yourself.

Remember, Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you.” The Church paying taxes would make it less likely we can care for them.