Months after allowing an assisted living resident in Hennepin County, MN, to pursue his case seeking a property tax exemption for his unit in a continuing care retirement community, the Minnesota Tax Court ruled last week that the resident is not eligible for the tax break.
Duane C. Bojack, a resident at Friendship Village of Bloomington, had asserted that his dwelling unit was exempt from property taxation, according to Minnesota Tax Court records. Friendship Village of Bloomington is owned by Lifespace Communities.
Before 2023, Friendship had been exempt from property tax as a charitable institution. The CCRC had been approved for the exemption in 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019; the application for exemption must be filed every third year. Neither Friendship Village nor individual residents had been paying any property tax because the CCRC was exempt. That changed when the application was denied in 2023, although the CCRC maintained that it had had no material change to its charitable purpose since the previous exemption was granted…