Today I had a three hour meeting with people from the county. Specifically James C. Johnson (510) 272-3795, james.johnson@acgov.org and Israel Padilla Villafuerte (510) 272-3767, israel.padilla@acgov.org. I went there to try and come to a resolution concerning the huge tax bills we have been getting, as a tax exempt church. Back in 2014, we were thinking of renting our hall for weddings and such. I called the county and talked to Kristi Roy, who told me that the rentals could not be regular and they could not be repeat business of the same people all the time. Ms. Roy was functioning as an agent of this government body, so I took her words to be true. I asked if I would be violating the law or if I would lose my tax free status. On both accounts she said no. When Ms. Roy came twice to tour my building I asked her again, to her face, and was told that it would be lawful and acceptable. Today I found out that Ms. Roy lied to me and that renting our hall is not allowed. That is not exactly what they said. I said, “tell me the law and I will obey it.” James said, “There is not law.” I asked him three times what the law was and three times he denied that there was a law. I have taken civics classes and a place where there is no law is known as *anarchy*. I then gave specific examples of how our church is used by outside people. Throughout the meeting, James told us that they were under the gun of the California Department of Equalization. Apparently Sacramento is concerned that tax exempt churches are renting their halls for events and this is taking away from people whose sole business is renting halls for events. I know for a fact that no such company exists within Alameda County. All halls that are rented are used for other purposes when not rented, like the library, churches, union halls, etc. Yet our overlords in Sacramento know best and so they are putting pressure on all counties in California to shut down tax exempt rentals.
In Alameda county there are many church plants and most new churches rent from schools and places like that. Last month we allowed the pastor of *Ignite Joy* to come to our church and perform a wedding because their church meets in a tutoring center and our church looks like a church. Even though there is no law, Israel was quick to tell me that this was disallowed and this one event would cause us to lose our text exempt status for a whole year. It only takes one event, one mistake, even for a few minutes, to lose tax exemption for the entire year. I then asked how he could know that if there was no law. James and Israel both agreed that there was a law, but it was *subjective* and not written down. So last year, this wedding might be legal, but tomorrow it would not be. This is known as *fascism*. I then gave example after example of things we do and both of them said that they did not have an answer, they simply did not know. They would not decide if my actions would allow me to keep my tax exempt status until the next fiscal year after the event. Then they would decide and there would be no appeal. I then told them that there was going to be a pastor meeting of various pastors, from various denominations all coming to my church for breakfast and a meeting, this Saturday, 2 days from now. I asked if that would cause me to lose my tax exempt status. They both said they did not know and would have to wait until the next fiscal year after the event and then decide. So I cannot even get permission for something 2 days from now. I have to wait an entire year to find out if this was allowed. Churches in Alameda county, therefore, cannot plan. I asked if a denominational, all hands meeting, like we hosted in 2014, would be allowed. Even after the fact, they said they did not know. Therefore, I cannot choose to have a county pastors meeting, or a denomination planning meeting or any other sort of even or meeting because one such meeting might cause me to lose my tax exempt status for a whole year, which will bankrupt us.
The best response from churches, then, is to lie to the county and not tell them anything. I got caught this time because they said I advertised. They could not prove that anyone came to use the hall because of the advertisement, just the fact that I advertised on our website and on a sign in front of our church what enough for us to lose our text exempt status for all of 2016-2017. Additionally there is no law which says I cannot advertise. The law exists in their heads. What was legal last year is not legal this year. Some mindless drone from the county office will come and measure the parts of the church that are used for events. They will then tell us the tax amount. If it is less than $1,000 we can probably handle it. If it is closer to the $7,900 tax bill we received, then we are out of business. So sometime in the next few months we will figure out if we can continue business as a church at this location.
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