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Madison County approves partial tax exemption for Wellsprings Church property in Gluckstadt
Summary
The Board approved a property tax exemption for Lot 5 owned by Wellsprings Methodist Church for the 2025 tax roll and authorized Lot 6 to be exempted beginning with the 2026 tax roll after discussion about historic board practice on exemptions in arrears.
The Madison County Board of Supervisors approved a partial real-property tax exemption on Oct. 6 for Wellsprings Methodist Church in Gluckstadt, granting an exemption for Lot 5 on the 2025 tax roll and scheduling an exemption for Lot 6 to begin with the 2026 tax roll.
The matter drew extended discussion because one parcel still appeared on the assessor’s current roll under a different owner and because board members said the county historically does not grant exemptions retroactively for prior years. County staff urged consistency with past practice while the church’s representative urged relief for the parcel that was recorded in the church’s name in October 2024.
Barbara Gross, the county’s election commissioner for District 2, told the board the election office had a lease approval for Wellsprings Church to serve as a precinct and that the precinct change would take effect in December; that item was handled separately. John (representing Wellsprings Methodist Church) told the board the church purchased Lot 5 in October 2024 and Lot 6 in May 2025 and that the church filed the exemption application on July 8 after consulting the tax assessor. John said, "In this particular exemption statute, there is no deadline listed, and we confirmed that with the tax assessor. So for 2025, for Lot 5, we should be allowed an exemption for '25 for Lot 5. And then on, Lot 6, it would be for '26 going forward."
County staff and a member of the board said one of the two parcels still appeared on the assessor’s records as owned by JSW Enterprises Inc.; staff noted the ownership should appear as Wellsprings on the 2026 tax roll. A county representative summarized the board’s historic practice by saying, "We don't give arrears to churches or anyone else," and warned that allowing retroactive exemptions could invite repeated requests.
After discussion the board first considered but rejected a substitute motion to start both parcels in 2026 for consistency with past practice. The board then approved the original motion: exempt Lot 5 effective on the 2025 tax roll and exempt Lot 6 effective on the 2026 tax roll. The board’s verbal vote was taken by voice; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.
The board and staff noted administrative follow-up: the applicant must ensure the tax-roll ownership is corrected so the exemption will be applied to the proper parcel on the 2026 roll, and the assessor’s office will need specification of the parcel numbers for the exemption to be processed.
The approved parcels were discussed with the following parcel numbers referenced in the transcript: 082E-21-024/00-00 (format as read in transcript) and 082210240100 (as read in transcript). The board did not adopt a change to county practice on retroactive exemptions; staff said the decision aligned with the county’s historic practice and the specific facts of this application.
