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Court Asked to Reconsider Pilgrim Pines Ruling

WEST SWANZEY, NH (August 9, 2001) - The East Coast Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church has asked the New Hampshire Supreme Court to reconsider its July decision, which upheld a trial court ruling denying Pilgrim Pines Conference Center a property tax exemption as a charity.

The motion to reconsider is another in a series of legal steps challenging the 1996 decision by the Town of Swanzey to tax all of the church-owned conference center's property, except the chapel. That decision was appealed to the Cheshire County Superior Court, which essentially ruled in favor of the town's position.

An appeal of the Superior Court's decision was heard by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which issued its decision in July. For more details on that decision, read Pilgrim Pines Seeks Rehearing on Charitable Exemption Denial

In its July ruling, the Supreme Court found that the church "failed to demonstrate that in its operation of Pilgrim Pines, it contributed to the general public benefit, and thus it was not a charitable organization entitled to tax exemption." Charitable status, under which Pilgrim Pines operates, requires that an organization prove it is obligated to be "a public charity, that is, that the general public, or a substantial portion of it, were the beneficiaries of (its) uses. It cannot be considered a charitable organization if its purposes are confined mostly to benefiting its own members."

Finding that Pilgrim Pines did not serve a "substantial and indefinite segment of the public," the court said, "We hold that where an organization makes efforts to limit its services, and targets its benefits only to its members, that organization is not obligated to serve an indefinite segment of the population. Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the trial court that the church's operation at Pilgrim Pines is not eligible for a charitable tax exemption."

The conference argues that "the facts on which the court grounded its decision were wrong, on the undisputed record," and that "the court's holding is inconsistent with the facts as (erroneously) recited in the opinion."

The motion also addresses the court's definition of a public charity. "The court's decision changes the definition of a public charity from those which do not exclusively provide benefits to their members to those which do not primarily benefit their members, even when the evidence conclusively establishes that the charity (i.e. the Church) makes its programs and property available to a broad spectrum of the public outside its particular denomination, and membership in the denomination is open to all who would join its faith."

In brief, the decision makes it "virtually impossible for any membership charity to meet the 'public character' test," the motion contends.

In a related action, the East Coast Conference filed a motion to allow a 30-day period for the plaintiff to study potential constitutional issues associated with the Supreme Court decision.

To read the motions, visit read Motions

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