Court: Congregation’s display doesn’t deserve tax exemption

By: Associated Press//November 30, 2017//

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state appeals court says a Catholic congregation’s stations-of-the cross display didn’t qualify for a property tax exemption in 2014.

The St. Raphael’s Congregation built the display in 2012 on a property in Madison where the St. Raphael Cathedral once stood. The cathedral burned down in a fire in 2005.

The congregation sought a property tax exemption for tax year 2014, arguing state statutes had then granted such exemptions for property needed for church buildings.

A judge in madison denied the exemption. The 4th District Court of Appeals upheld that ruling on Thursday, finding that a building must first have existed for the exemption to apply.

Legislators amended the statutes earlier this year to extend the exemption to property that churches intend to use for buildings that are needed to replace structures that were destroyed by fire.

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