DENVER – The dispute over whether YMCA of the Rockies should be exempt from paying property taxes on its two mountain camps continues and could affect more than 6,000 other religious-based organizations across Colorado, officials told the Associated Press last week.
In 2005, the state property tax administrator ruled that the camps should be exempt from taxes even though the camps did not require guests to participate in religious programs. However, earlier this month, the counties appealed, and the state Board of Assessment Appeals ruled that the camps should not be exempt from paying taxes except on their Christian chapels because the property wasn’t used for overtly religious purposes. YMCA camps officials have sought tax exempt status for several years, according to the article.
Now, state officials are trying to clarify the law on tax-exempt status. Assistant Attorney General Robert Dodd said in a court filing that more than 6,000 properties have religious exemptions from paying property taxes.