San Francisco archdiocese files suit over $21.7M property tax bill

April 23, 2010

Following unsuccessful municipal appeals, the Archdiocese of San Francisco has filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court over the city's efforts to impose property taxes for the transfers of 232 properties among three nonprofit corporations. The archdiocese’s $14.4 million tax bill has grown to $21.7 million with delinquency and interest penalties.

“San Francisco Recorder Phil Ting has taken a step that is unprecedented in the history of the State of California. He has determined that an internal reorganization of Church property, within the family of corporations of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, constitutes a 'sale' and is subject to a property transfer tax,” an archdiocesan spokesman said last year. “The law is overwhelmingly in favor of the archdiocese in holding that Church property transfers of this nature are exempt from transfer taxes.”

 

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Further information:

• Archdiocese files transfer tax suit (Catholic San Francisco)
• Catholic church takes city to court over $14.4 million tax tab (San Francisco Chronicle)
• San Francisco archdiocese loses appeal of tax assessment (CWN, 12/1/09)
• Assessor: San Francisco archdiocese owes up to $15M (CWN, 1/14/09)