The town of Scituate will maintain its taxable hold on the St. Frances X. Cabrini Church properties, after the Appellate Tax Board ruled that the land was not tax-exempt.
In the first of a two-part decision issued last Friday, the board ruled that the multiple church properties on Mann Hill Road, Hatherly Road, and Hood Road were not being used for tax-exempt purposes since the closing of the St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in 2004.
The Archdiocese previously lost two cases to the town for tax-exempt status in fiscal 2006 and 2007 because it appealed the tax decision too late.
This most recent decision focuses on fiscal 2008 to 2011, for which the Boston Archdiocese has paid over $140,000 in taxes for properties valued, at one point in fiscal '08, at more than $4 million.
The Archdiocese argued that it should be refunded the bill because the Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini, a group of local worshipers who have held a sit-in since the church closed, were still using the building.
While the Archdiocese argued this use was still a religious and charitable purpose, the appeals board said that the parishioners' sole purpose was to protest the closing of the church, not form a religious group on the church grounds.
“The board also finds that neither the Friends nor the Vigilers are religious organization..they do not formally participate in any recognized, authorized, or sanctioned Roman Catholic religious activity, and any religious activity that occurred at the Church is incidental to their dominant and near exclusive purpose: to occupy and guard the Church so that RCAB (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston) cannot regain possession,” the decision stated.
The board also found that the use of the land did not fall under a charitable purpose.
“The Friends are not otherwise engaged in charitable activities as an organization even though individual Vigilers may perform some charitable acts on their own,” the decision states.
“The thing is, at the end of the day, the rules apply to everybody,” said Brian Sullivan, chairman of Scituate's Board of Assessors.
However, part of the controversy has not been settled. The board will look at the second issue – whether the land was valuated at too much – in a meeting on Jan. 31.
“Although we have prevailed on the most important issue, the second component is yet important. We cannot access any of that funding we have in those accounts,” Sullivan said.
Thus, the taxes, though paid, are being set aside while the second mater makes its way through court.
“We set it aside. It affects the town’s finances in that it’s revenue that we cannot count on, but ultimately when we prevail -- and we’re confident we will -- we will give that money to the town,” Sullivan said.
The property will continue to be taxed until the Archdiocese sells the land, or renews tax-exempt activities on the site.
The latter seems unlikely, especially as there is currently a "for sale" sign in front of the rectory and a buildable lot of land the church is trying to sell elsewhere in the town.
The Archdiocese still has the option to appeal the board’s ruling, something that Sullivan said was a possibility.
"We’ve just received the ruling and we’re in the process of reviewing it," Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, said Tuesday. "I think it would be premature for me to comment as for what our next steps will be. We made our case, so we’ll take a look and then we’ll make a determination in a reasonable amount of time."
Regardless of an appeal, the second half of the case will move forward at the end of January.
To read the entire ruling, click here