By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services/Arizona Daily Star
Landowners who lease buildings to churches will not be getting a property tax break.
Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed legislation Tuesday that would have given favorable tax treatment to property leased to religious institutions for worship.
Current law says property used or held primarily for worship is exempt from all property taxes if it is not used or held for profit. Proponents of HB 2281 said that helps congregations rich enough to afford their own facilities.
But congregations that lack the finances to own their facilities are stuck leasing. And that property is now classified as commercial and taxed based on an assessed value at 19.5 percent of its market value.
