RICHMOND – Property owned by a Petersburg church is not exempt from real-estate taxes, but the house of worship will not have to pay additional attorneys’ fees for having the issue reheard as the state Supreme Court ordered.
That summarizes a ruling released Tuesday by the Virginia Court of Appeals in the ongoing saga between the city and Emmanuel Worship Center over the tax status of church-owned property. A three-judge panel of the appellate court said that since EWC had rented a portion of the property to a commercial tenant, that erases the traditional tax exemption on buildings owned by houses of worship.
But because EWC had previously paid back the owed taxes plus attorneys’ fee from the original case run, it did not have to pay the city’s tab for the second run-through.
The property in question is located at 214 Grove St, next to the church. EWC bought the building in 2004 and in doing so, inherited an auto window tinting company tenant. The church agreed to let Wooden Leg Van Shop remain on the site and charged it rent.