According to today’s Times Herald Record, Sullivan County, the Town of Thompson and Monticello School District have agreed to allow the Ichud Bungalow Colony to apply for a tax exemption each year.
That is a lot different than the 2006 agreement, which would have given Ichud a perpetual tax exemption on its property, $50,000 less in annual payments and a tax-exempt grocery store.
In 2006, Sullivan County Treasurer Ira Cohen received a court order to discharge the 2005 and 2006 tax liens on Ichud Bungalow Colony. He refused.
Later, the former county attorney argued in court that Ichud’s agreement with Thompson for tax-exemption status was illegal.
Cohen said Ichud’s roughly 200 units on about 100 acres was not entitled to a tax exemption for religious or educational purposes and that the town and court had no authority to grant the colony a grocery store as part of the deal. Furthermore, the group was entitled to an exemption only on its 2005 tax assessment, because it did not file the proper paperwork with the town assessor for 2006.
Ichud will pay its entire $75,458 lien for 2006, between the town, county and school.
In exchange, it will receive a refund on its 2005 tax lien, which was $4,239 less.
And instead of having a tax-exempt grocery store on its property, Ichud bought out neighboring Sedlack’s Appliances and put in a taxable grocery store.
“We’ve restored the assessor’s authority to remove the exemption. The old agreement set a really bad precedent,” said Cohen.
The seven-year pilot agreement between the town, county and school will remain in place as long as the Town of Thompson grants the property tax-exemption status. That will be up to the town assessor each year.
(Source: Recordonline.com)
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21 Responses
What gives a bungalow colony,a vacation home for regular people, a tax-exemt status? The goyish neighbors should pay for the vacation spot of Jewish out-of-towners? PLEASE explain. Does this not cause more hatred from the non-frum Jews and the goyim who live in that area all year long?How is a summer retreat for city dwellers a tax-exempt entity?
Proud KAJ-WH TIDE Guy,
To answer your question, it is called RLUIPA. (As it applies to this case discussed above.) And it is a federal statue, passed by the United States Congress.
To Proud KAJ-WH TIDE:
Going to the country for most Chashidishe families, is not a luxury. You can see by the looks of the units at Ichud bungalows (and other bungalow colonies). The main reason that they go, is to for the chinuch of the small children who, whether you like it or not, feel that in the summer months is not possible to be on the same level of Kedusha as in the city. The city is full of ‘peritzus’ during the summer months when the public schools are closed and the heat is great. Therefore with the day camp actually being a Yeshiva and the beautiful Bais Medrash which houses to Kollel yungerleit of the whole area, they do deserve the tax break
Those places that have nicer and winterized units actually do pay the taxes and thru the roof
I wish I had the time to elaborate, but I hope you get the point.
shalom shisheha, good point. And to add to it, the Jewish summer home owners in the Catskills subsidize through-the-roof taxes the year-round residents of the area.
So no one has any tainos that Yidden aren’t paying enough in Gov’t taxes.
To Proud KAJ-WH TIDE Guy: do you vacation in the Catskills in the summer? I don’t think so, because if you would you wouldn’t write what you wrote above on “Ichud”!! “Ichud” has the biggest shul and Mikvah in the Catskills, it is open 24 hours around the clock Minyanim and Shiurim and food for Everybody, and there are “Thousends” who are frequenting “Ichud” during the season, I was amazed of the sight that I saw there, it is the biggest “Kiddush Hashem” to see all Kinds of Chasidish, Litvish, Yeshivish, Sefardish, etc, in one place, so Yes “Ichud” deserves a tax Break for serving the catskills during the season!!
shalom shesheha – it doesnt matter WHY youre going to the country. the fact remains, youre leaving bklyn, to go to somewhre w/ more space, more land, swimming pools etc. Whether their houses look like palaces or shacks, that DOES qualify as a vacation. This is a disgrace and a tremendous chillul hashem. Why do they “deserve” a tax break? just b/c theyre chassidish? do they “deserve” to go to camp, swim, relax, more htan anyone else?
house77, They are entitled to the tax break simply because the LAW entitles them to a tax break.
Is “ICHUD” the same place known for years as IDEAL on rt 42?
To “Proud KAJ-WH TIDE Guy” and “house 77”
Anyone who has been unfortunate enough to deal with children & other family members who have have gone off the derech in a really bad way(nobody should ever have to experience it) realizes that the “country” for most is no longer a luxury but a very important necessity. The numbers of children & young adults that get into trouble in the summer in the city have absolutely sky-rocketed. Eliminating the nisyonos must be foremost on our collective agendas. ANYTHING done to help unquestionably falls into the realm of Hatzolas Nefoshos.
Hershel Mendel
pls GIVE ME A BREAK. Yes, I do go to the country in the summer, and I am the first to admit that it is a LUXURY. owning two homes, or owning one and renting anohter for the summer, is considered, by any standard, a luxury, whether you like it or not. this is just a blatant chillul hashem. How can you say that the “reason” for ppl going off the derech has anything to do w/ whehter or not they go to the country in teh summer. And ps have you been to woodbourne lately? I would venture to say taht staying in the oh so quiet neighborhoods of bp/flatbush/wiliamsburg for the summer is MUCH “SAFER” for youth than heading up to the country! And at any rate, kids going off the derech, as tragic as it is, donsnt excuse elaborate schemes to siphon money from the government. Imagine the outrage among the jews if hte goying living upstate started w/ such shtick!
House 77 – Your comments, I think, are correct. Going to the country for the summer is indeed a luxury and our obligations to government should not be hidden behind the veil of religion. And yes, I too go to the country (on and off since 1957 and have not missed a summer since 1982). The orthodox and various chasidic groups have kept the “mountains” alive but there is plenty resentment by the local population (including the local Jews) because the locals will carry the burden of the tax obligation when others scheme under the guise of religion. And if you think this is just my opinion, I had the occasion this past summer to speak with a local merchant who has a nice summer business as well as a year-round business, who when questioned about a bungalow colony for sale down the road said “I hope the orthodox don’t buy it” and when I questioned him as to why, his answer was “I will have to carry more taxes because they will get an exemption and that’s just not fair”. By the way, this merchant is Jewish.
12786,
Please don’t buy that hunk of beans from self-hating Jews. The facts on the ground are that the summer residents of the Catskills pay far more then their fair share of taxes to the local Sullivan County governments, with thru the roof property taxes on homes they use typically 3 months a year.
They summer residents don’t vote there, don’t use government services most of the year, and subsidize the local residents taxes.
I’m not addressing the issue here whether the tax regime is Sullivan County is unfair to the summer residents, but rather making the point the summer residents pay far more then their share in taxes.
Joseph, I hope those beans you’re referring to are kosher and under proper rabbinical supervision!!! As far as the self-hating goes, you are waaaaaaay out of line. That being said, you’re bypassing the main idea of the article which is, are the exemptions on taxes given to some legitimate or not? Does putting a shul on a bungalow colony mean that the entire colony is a religious entity or a place of worship on that colony. My thought would be only the shul should carry tax-exempt status. As for the thru-the-roof property taxes paid by people only using their home for three months, maybe those taxes would be considerably less if those “questionable exemptions” weren’t given and the tax burden was spread around more evenly.
if the town of thompson is giving them the tax exempt status as the article clearly states, why are you so upset proud KAJ and house and 12786 and anybody else? argue with the town, not some storeowner that would be out of business without the summer trade and would pay a lot more in taxes to make up the shortfall if the summer homes people left.
12786, See my comment #2 above where I addressed that point.
RLUIPA is pretty all encompassing and very broad. And it is the law of the land. If you don’t like the fact that they are entitled to a tax exemption, petition Congress to change the law. Until Congress does, they are fully entitled to claim the full exemption the law provides.
And like mdlevine pointed out, the article above points out even the Town admitted they are entitled to the exemption. (The Town of Thompson and Monticello School District have agreed to allow the Ichud Bungalow Colony to apply for a tax exemption each year.)
but RLUIPA doesnt mean that the people living in HOUSES near a shul should be exempt from paying taxes. Sure, a shul could and should be tax exempt. But all the schemers livign nearby? thats just trying to trick the government and is a complete chillul hashem.
Im sorry ppl (myself included) only use their summer homes for 3 months a year, but thats part of what goes w/ owning a summer home. If all the millionaires and billionaires in the Hamptons said one day, hmm, lets hire some fancy lawyers to find us tax exemptions for our multimillion dollar mansions…why should we pay so much property tax on houses were using only 25% of the time? Im sure they could do the same thing. And theyd all be just as wrong as these gazlanim are.
RLUIPA concerns zoning ordinances, not taxation. It is indeed a very broad statute but if we are talking of people’s summer homes I am hard pressed to understand how RLUIPA covers it.
house 77
How correct you are again!! RLUIPA I feel is being abused here….the shul YES, the rest of the property and it’s exemption NO! Remember everyone (Joseph included) these bugalow colonies are a business. Hopefully for the owners a profit making business and the tenents for the summer are not being given free stay in the name of religion are they?? Come on this may be a law but it’s a stretch of the intent of that law I feel. Show me different , i’ll keep my mind open!!
because theyre not summer homes. these are religious insitutions. So they can be exempt. Theyre not there to relax. Theyre not actually living in the homes. theyre actually sleeping on the grass.
Its garbage like this that makes not only goyim hate jews, but makes the rest of the frum community resent the snakes like these who come up w/ these elaborate schemes.
did anyone ever consider the fact that aside from the goyim living in the area that will be picking up alot of their slack in terms of paying for property tax, the OTHER frum ppl in OTHER frum bungalow colonies in the area, will eventually have to pay more at their expense? but of course not. they dont care. theyre special, because theyre the only bungalow colony that has a shul on premises right?
and mdlevine, i honestly dont care much about the storeowners etc. I care abt other jews, who will have to pay more because of disgusting conniving schemes like these. and just b/c it says the town has “agreed” doesnt mean they willingly agreed, or were happy about it. Some chassidishe yungerman who probably cant even read english, showed him a piece of paper and said, see what it says on this piece of paper, well that means we shouldnt be paying, and they had NO CHOICE but to agree. and for hte little bit extra theyd be getting from one bungalow colony, it just probably wasnt worth fighting. either way this is just a chillul hashem.
the town of thompson willing agreed, nobody threatened harm to anyone. why they agreed, I don’t know nor do I care. they agreed. if next year they say “no” then either the kehilla will come and pay taxes or they will relocate elsewhere.
sometimes, there is economic incentive to through a few coins towards someone to get them to come and spend more than you give them — I am not saying that this is the case here, but, once again i do not think that it is a bunch of wily city slickers taking advantage of a hick town council.