Jill, Most community gardens, as you surmised, garden on municipally owned park or depressed vacant lot tracts which are leased from our city landlords at nominal rates or for free. In other situations, the garden ownership has been transferred to Land Trusts which manage these spaces as public amenities for the public good. The theory is that these gardens are a means of stabilizing the community, housing stock and tax rolls of the surrounding commuity by a beneficial use.
The alternative, i.e., a rubble and garbage strewn, dangerous, vermin infested lot where fires are set, drug dealing, prostitution and other anti-social activities take place is a drain on the city's treasury. Visits from firemen to put our fires that could spread to adjacent buildings, police sorties to quiet noisy drug dealers or to investigate drug trafficking and/or prostitution reported by neighborhood residents, sporadic visits from the Sanitation dept to clean up bad smelling messes and the Medical Examiner to collect corpses dumped through criminal activity all cost cash-strapped municipalities a considerable amount of money. This is why fed-up neighborhood residents who take over these spaces get the grudging permission of municipalities, usually after the fact, to do so. Jill - property taxes are political. An idea: Churches do not pay property taxes for their religious sites because of a political deal. Many not-for-profits which benefit their communities pay no or drastically reduced property taxes. As you are growing food for low-income residents and providing a volunteer-run neighborhod space, a "point of light" in Republican Bush senior-speak, you should try to get your local officials to advocate for "tax relief", keeping the money that you would be paying to the municipality in the pockets of a neighborhood volunteer organization that so selflessly serves its low income community. Get a few local pastors behind you. Also, it's worth letting a few local newspapers and TV stations know about your garden's good work in feeding the community, what was on the space before, and the obtuseness of taxing a positive non-for-profit use like your garden. In the interim, see what is cheaper (agricultural rates should be cheaper, but be sure to read the rates before declaring, or even seeing if there are agricultural rates in Cedar Rapids) and if all fails, render onto Caesar... If the tax man got Al Capone, he'll certainly get you. Have a lovely day, Adam Honigman << Subj: [cg] Property taxes question Date: 5/19/03 9:12:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Question for Community Gardeners- do any of your organizations- Non-profit- neighborhood associations, greening organizations- who own your own land and gardens- have to pay property taxes? Just wondering- we do in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We are a 501(c)3. Our taxes aren't expensive. I think we are the only ones who pay property taxes in the country- but are there other groups? If you do pay property taxes and are in an urban area- do you pay residential rates or Ag. rates? Can you let me know. We challenged our taxes once and the assessor made the decision and turned us down. (This is the same assessor who wants to tax at higher rate for lower cost/ income homes, those under $150,000 than the upper crust ones $300,000-$500,000- $1M.) We just need a little more information of what is going on around the country. Thank you all----jill jones, Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association, Cedar Rapids, Iow >> ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
