the scriptorium

Thursday, June 23, 2005

I try to stay away from being political on this blog, mostly because I'll eventually end up showing my ignorance. But we should all be concerned about this decision just handed down by the Supreme Court. In essence, the Court has just rescinded the 5th Amendment, which states in part, "...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." The phrase in dispute in this particular case was what constituted "public use". Apparently, that no longer just includes an interstate or government building, but also includes any project that will end up producing more tax revenue for the municipality than your existing home does.

The danger I see inherent in this is to church properties. Currently, churches are not required to pay property taxes. If this ruling stands, I see that changing, or I see church properties being siezed to be made into shopping malls because they will bring in more money to the community than the church would. The first thing I thought about when I heard this news was the retreat center my community is working towards building. When we are ready to purchase this, it will likely be in a fairly remote area, but one that is still close enough to town to allow those of us who will have jobs there to commute without a huge amount of hassle. That sort of property could end up being in the 'burbs after a few years, the way this area is growing. If that happens, our retreat center could end up condemned in favor of another development of "McMansions" or an industrial complex. That thought just makes me ill, to say nothing of the suspension of basic rights of property being violated. As one person I heard on the radio today stated, we've moved off of the "slippery slope" and fallen right off the cliff.

posted by #Debi at 7:48 PM | permalink | 0 comments