Pastor wants taxes forgiven Leader of Schenectady church petitions city for help to avoid foreclosure By Lauren Stanforth Published 10:45 p.m., Tuesday, June 12, 2012
SCHENECTADY — A pastor and former head of the Schenectady NAACP is appealing to have water, sewer and tax bills forgiven at a building his church owns in Hamilton Hill that is facing foreclosure.
The Rev. Theodore Ward of Koinonia Christian Ministries gave a letter to City Council on Monday requesting that he not have to pay $9,400 owed on the building at 1115 McClyman St. — or to at least have penalties and interest on the bill dropped. The church plans to renovate the 3,824-square-foot building to be used as its sanctuary and a community center. The congregation currently meets in community space at the Schenectady Housing Authority's Lincoln Heights Apartments.
Last month, Ward surprised other NAACP leaders when he quit as chapter president after the national organization voted to support marriage equality.
Many nonprofits groups have appealed to the city over the last five years to have their taxes forgiven in the wake of a 2006 change that stopped the automatic rollover of nonprofit exemptions each year. As a result, some nonprofits missed the yearly filing deadline, forcing them to appeal to the state Legislature for the exemption........................>>>>.............................>>>>...............Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Pastor-wants-taxes-forgiven-3629133.php#ixzz1xfdBYWaA
And the church did not pay its water and sewer bills from 2008 to 2010. The church recently paid its 2011 water and sewer bill of $614.51.
They should at least have paid the water and sewer bills. And they were too late to file for an exemption the first year for taxes, I don't feel sorry for them as there are many homeowners who miss the deadline for various reasons and HAVE to pay the full amount of taxes.
Just seems they should have paid the previous years water/sewer bill first?
Wonder how many other non profits are behind on water and sewer bills? Don't know if there is a way for us to find out until they are threatened with foreclosure.
Is this going to be a yearly fiasco with these non-profits????
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Koinonia, which currently conducts worship services in a community room of the Lincoln Heights Apartments, owes taxes and water and sewer bills on the building dating back to 2008. The city can not legally forgive taxes, but it can negotiate on penalties and interest, which might happen in Ward's case, McCarthy has said.
So forgiving penalty and interest will equate to votes in the next election.
Where is the forgiveness of penalty and interest for homeowners that are struggling, not the absentee slumlords but the eldlerly and families that actually live in their houses?
They bought the place for $100 in 2007. Its a house not a church. Pay your bills, plain and simple.
Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid - John Wayne
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And what of the status of ATF,non-profits(1st Unitarian Church, Civic Playhouse on Church St. and a couple of other NP), and City related to the back taxes owed settlement?
Logged
In this renaissance we close the churches. Even the nonprofit community cannot escape from DEM insane taxation. Keep the DEM implosion going! 
