PRESS RELEASE
May 20, 2003

Contact: Atheists United Office: 323-666-4258;
Stuart Bechman, Co-President: 805-522-4524

LOS ANGELES -- Atheists United contacted Governor Davis and the state legislative leadership today to remind them of a tax break which appears to have escaped the attention of those grappling with the severe state budget crisis.

"One idea which appears to have escaped consideration but which we think deserves serious consideration is to reduce or even eliminate the property tax exemption for religious organizations," says Stuart Bechman, AU Co-President. "This exemption has resulted in millions of dollars of tax savings to religious organizations, dollars which are now needed to help us balance the state budget and save important social programs."

State leaders have recently floated the idea of raising state sales taxes to help balance California's $34 billion budget shortfall, on top of some of the most severe budgetary cuts seen in decades. Schools, hospitals, and other social programs appear to be suffering the most from the budget crisis.

"It seems most unfair that any group that benefits from government services should be able to escape shouldering their share of the responsibility for solving the state's budget crisis," stated Jon Nelson, AU Co-President. "It is even more ironic that the community who appears most likely to avoid this burden is the community who claims to champion the poor, the weak, the indigent -- the very constituencies that are going to suffer the most from our budget crisis. Given that religious organizations have had the luxury of being exempt from property taxes for years, it would hardly seem unreasonable to ask them to forego that exemption at least on a temporary basis until the state is once again in a position to consider providing such a tax break again."

Religious organizations are unique in being the only tax-exempt organizations in California which are also given a property tax exemption.

"The religious property tax exemption has been a 'hidden' welfare program for churches," says Henry Farber, AU board member. "It may have cost the state very little when it was originally conceived; but as property taxes have gone up for everyone else, the proportion of the church's tax burden shifted to the rest of the public has also grown. At the very least, the legislature should move to bring the exemption back to the original levels approved by the legislature."

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