Dylan Brogan
News-St-Raphaels-Update
A state appeals court sided with the City of Madison in an ongoing dispute over whether the site of the former St. Raphael's Cathedral is tax-exempt. The Catholic congregation was seeking reimbursement of $98,479.89 it paid in property taxes for 2014. On Nov. 30, the three-judge panel affirmed a 2016 decision by Dane County Judge Rhonda Lanford, who ruled the parcel does not meet qualifications for a religious exemption.
The congregation may have lost its legal battle. But thanks to an anonymously authored provision in the state’s biennial budget, 2017 will be the last year the congregation will have to pay city property taxes for at least the next 12 years. The budget amendment modifies the religious exemption in state law to fit St. Raphael’s unique situation. The statute will likely save the church over $1 million in future property taxes savings.
In 2005, the 150-year-old St. Raphael’s Cathedral was destroyed by a fire started by a homeless man who suffered from mental illness. Bishop Robert Morlino of the Diocese of Madison called for the cathedral to be rebuilt in 2007 but no construction plans have been announced. Fundraising efforts to rebuild the church — estimated to cost $50 million — were suspended after less than $3 million was collected.
In 2012, the congregation razed buildings and placed a “Way of the Cross” installation on the property. The congregation has owed roughly $100,000 each year in city taxes since the property was put back on the tax rolls, also in 2012. Just a block off the Capitol Square, the property is valued at over $4 million.
St. Raphael’s used the outdoor display of the 14 stations of the cross to argue that the property deserves exemption from city taxes. However, Lanford, and now the court of appeals, ruled that the “Way of the Cross” does not meet one of two requirements in the religious exemption clause. Matt Fleming, attorney for St. Raphael’s congregation, says “he doesn’t know” whether the church will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court to be reimbursed for taxes it already paid.
While fighting for tax-exemption through the courts, the St. Raphael’s congregation also fought to alter the religious exemption clause in state statute — and was successful.
Starting in 2018, a religious association is eligible for a tax exemption if it “intends to replace a building destroyed by fire, natural disaster or criminal act, regardless of whether preconstruction planning or construction has begun.” The provision further states that the exemption will apply only for the first 25 years after the building is destroyed. So, the St. Raphael’s property could be taxed again starting in 2030, if the church hasn’t yet rebuilt on it.
According to the lobbying database on the Wisconsin Ethics Commission’s website, St. Raphael Cathedral Parish paid $20,000 for veteran capitol lobbyist Alice O’Connor to persuade lawmakers to change the law. O’Connor won't name individual legislators but says “there was broad support from many lawmakers.”
The Madison-based Freedom from Religion Foundation is considering a legal challenge to the new provision. Patrick Elliott, senior counsel for the group, argues that the expanded definition of the religious exemption clause violates the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Wisconsin Constitution because it “favors religious entities.”
“It’s targeted at helping this one church. It was definitely lobbied for and passed with the intention of having a church avoid property taxes that all other entities would have to pay, including other nonprofits that are not actively using land,” Elliott says. “This is not an insignificant amount of money either and Madison taxpayers will have to pick up the slack.”
Elliott also takes issue with the way in which the expanded definition of the religious exemption clause was added to state statutes.
“Among several legal flaws, this is basically a private bill. This was part of a larger budget amendment but it clearly targets a specific property,” Elliott says. “The citizens of Madison had no say in this. We all are going to have to pay more in property taxes because the state Legislature did this specifically to benefit one property owner.”
Monsignor Kevin Holmes with the Catholic Diocese of Madison and the Madison City Attorney’s office did not immediately return Isthmus’ call for comment.
Editor’s note: Judge Rhonda Lanford is the partner of Isthmus editor Judith Davidoff, who had no involvement with the writing or editing of this article.
