San Lorenzo Pastor Says County Trying to Shut His Church Down

By Jim Knowles

CASTRO VALLEY FORUM  08-29-18

  A San Lorenzo Baptist minister says the county is trying to take away his

church’s tax-exempt status and shut it down to build housing or shops that produce more tax revenue. 

  Rev. Michael Wilson of Cornerstone Fellowship on Lewelling Boulevard says the county has been harassing him and threatening to take away the church’s tax-exemption. He says he believes that his church has been targeted with inspections by the county’s health and building departments as part of a county plan to force out the church. 

  “What Alameda County is doing is illegal. Under our Constitution we are allowed to worship freely and at a place of our choice, especially one that has been a place of worship for seven decades,” Wilson says.

see CHURCH on page 6 

  Wilson says he now has two tax bills, totaling $17,000 on his desk. And the county has threatened to sue the church if the bills aren’t paid.

  But Wilson maintains a church should be tax exempt. Besides that, the church only has 21 members and could never afford to pay that price anyway. Wilson says that Cornerstone is an older congregation and in the last few years a lot of its older members have passed away.

  “We would have to declare bankruptcy, go out of business and sell the land and I think that’s what they want,” Wilson says.

  The church hall is rented out four to six times a year for Quinceaneras by two Catholic churches in the area that don’t have a hall, and for weddings, Wilson says. He says the county told him that makes it a business, so it’s taxable. 

  In addition, the church has had a few, small pot luck dinners. But Wilson says lots of churches have things like that and they aren’t hit with tax bills. 

  But Alameda County officials say the church has been renting out space for events, which negates at least some percentage of the church’s tax-exempt status. 

  “In short, a church is 100 percent exempt if it’s used as a church 100 percent of the time,” said Brian Hitomi at the Alameda County tax assessor’s office. 

  “We’ve found that he rents rooms out commercially,” Hitomi said. “Once you begin using some of the property for non-exempt purposes, then that portion being used is no longer exempt.” 

  Hitomi said that the county has been in touch with Wilson about the use of the property, and is still in the process of determining the percentage of the exemption. 

  “If you rent the property out, then it’s quite possible that you would lose an exemption for that area of use,” Hitomi said. 

  So it’s the county’s position that the church would pay a fraction of the tax bill it received. How much of the property is exempt depends on the percentage of exemption. 

  But to determine the percentage of exemption, Hitomi said the county needs more information from Wilson. 

  “We’ve talked to him and asked for further verification of his rent of these properties,” Hitomi said. “We’ve asked for written documentation as to the nature of commercial use and we have yet to receive it. We just need that for us to make our determination. They say they don’t have them.” 

  But Wilson says other churches have functions that raise money, in some cases a lot more. 

  “They had a big pot luck at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland for $1,500 a plate fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and the county didn’t do anything,” Wilson says. “We’re small. So it’s no equal application under the law.” 

  Wilson says the county is wrong, the church isn’t a business. These events are just church fundraisers, like all churches have. 

  Around six years ago, Wilson says the county told him that if the events are not the sole income of the church, it’s all right. But this year he says the county told him the rules had changed. 

  “Now they said they can retroactively go back 10 years,” Wilson says.

  Wilson says he’s gone to many county planning meetings and gotten an idea of what the county wants. He believes they want to put in housing or upscale shopping, attracting higher income residents to boost tax revenue. 

  “We’re a test case,” Wilson says. “If they succeed here, they’ll go after other places, Goodwill and places that pay no property tax.”