Fairbanks North Star Borough board grants most tax‑exemption appeals for Victory Ministries' Camp Liwa; one vacant lot denied

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Board of Equalization on Dec. 3 heard oral arguments in an appeal by Victory Ministries and its Camp Liwa property over the assessor's decision to deny charitable property‑tax exemptions for several buildings and parcels. After hearing 45‑minute presentations from both sides, the board granted the appellant's appeals for four of five contested parcels and upheld the assessor on one vacant lot.

Appellant counsel Steve Mahoney, representing Victory Ministries, told the board the legal question was narrow: whether the parcels were "used exclusively for charitable purposes" under Alaska law. Mahoney said the assessor had wrongly relied on older findings and misapplied case law, and urged the board to reverse the denials. "This denial is simply wrong," Mahoney said, arguing that Camp Liwa operates year‑round as an evangelical charitable enterprise and that fees charged to some users were incidental and did not indicate a dominant profit motive.

Borough counsel for the assessor, citing the Alaska Constitution and statute, urged the board to analyze all uses of the properties and to consider 2022 Superior Court findings that had previously affirmed the…