by Tom Gallagher
October 22, 2010
The city of Troy, N.Y., has added four closed Catholic churches -- St. Paul the Apostle, St. William's, St. Peter's and St. Francis de Sales -- to the local tax rolls this year. And two more shuttered sites -- St. Mary's and St. Patrick's -- could soon join the list.
Local officials, seeing a green light in state law, want to tax churches after they've been closed for a year.
"A church can be deemed taxable by the assessor if the church is not being used for purposes of the religious organization," according to state Tax Department spokesman Geoff Gloak.
But the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany isn't buying that take on church and state and has launched a legal challenge.
