re: #104 Killgore Trout

I read through to the actual story, and the issue involved is that Mission Kansas started imposing a transportation utility fee.

The TUF is dedicated to transportation improvements (repair/maintenance of street, sidewalk, trail, transit facilities), and is a more transparent means of collecting revenue for these improvements. The concept is simple: the more a property generates traffic, the more that property contributes towards maintaining the transportation system. This is similar to other utility fees, such as stormwater, water, natural gas, etc. The TUF is not tied to fluctuations in property tax valuations or sales tax collections.
Who pays this fee?
All developed properties pay the TUF, which includes tax-exempt properties (such as schools/churches, government facilities, etc.) Because all developed properties are connected to and use the transportation system, all developed properties help pay to maintain it. The fees are collected via property tax assessments; consequently, they are sent to property owners, not tenants. However, a property owner may elect to pass these costs down to tenants.

I’d have to go back and research this, but I can swear that other municipalities and states impose fees for various usages that exempt entities like churches still have to pay.

States routinely carve out exceptions to nonprofit exemptions - including for churches. Heck, Utah imposes a $2 motor vehicle rental fee on rentals of 45 days of less but doesn’t exempt nonprofits (including churches).

Churches and other nonprofits around the country are required to show nonprofit use in order to benefit from certain property tax exemptions - that includes places like NY, NJ, CO, UT (and pretty much everywhere else).

Now, you can argue that churches should have a blanket exemption from tax at all levels - and you could conceivably make a coherent one, but this fee is typical of those found around the country and typical of the way municipalities and states are limiting the exemptions for churches and other nonprofits.