Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Tax topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bill would extend property-tax exemption to church-owned workforce housing; municipalities and advocates clash
Summary
Senate Bill 291 would broaden property-tax exemptions to include certain church-owned housing used for workforce or mission-driven purposes, sponsor Senator Daryl Abbas said during a committee hearing.
Senator Daryl Abbas, prime sponsor of Senate Bill 291, told the Senate Ways and Means Committee the bill is intended to prevent churches and other religious organizations from having to evict tenants or leave housing vacant because municipalities treat nonpastoral housing on church property as nonreligious and thus taxable.
"Some communities are considering that to not be used for religious purposes even though the rental money received it goes back into the nonprofit or to the charitable purpose," Abbas said, explaining the bill would treat housing on church lots used for workforce housing or for designated employees as advancing religious purposes.
The bill prompted extended testimony from municipal officials, housing advocates and faith leaders. Brody Deshais, speaking for the New Hampshire Municipal Association, said the bill's language would expand exemptions from land "appertaining to them" to "on the same lot," which could turn large parcels into tax-exempt land and shift tax burden to other property owners. He also flagged the bill's cross-references to RSA 674:58 (workforce housing) and how that definition can refer to housing intended for sale.
Tom DeRosa, deputy director of Housing Action New Hampshire, supported the bill as a tool to increase housing supply and argued churches already own parcels that could host mission-driven housing. Sean Foster, senior pastor at Crossing Life Church in Windham, said his congregation would reinvest any rental income into ministry and community programs. "Charging people a graduated scale instead of just free handouts is much better at equipping them and helping them stand on their own two feet," Foster said.
Representatives of Cornerstone and other faith-based groups said the draft is tailored to prevent abuse and to empower religious organizations to add workforce housing. Municipal officials suggested a study commission to reconcile differing local practices and to avoid piecemeal statutory changes.
The committee closed the public hearing on SB 291 after receiving dozens of written and oral statements in support and opposition; testimony included requests for clarifying language on unit caps, zoning protections, and the relationship between charitable free housing and workforce-rental arrangements. No final committee vote on the bill was recorded in the transcript.
