Churches To Pay Fire District Dues
Last updated Wednesday, January 14, 2009 6:44 PM CST in News
By Scarlet Sims
THE MORNING NEWS
BENTONVILLE -- All churches will pay fire dues collected through Benton County starting this year, said Valerie Brewer, assessor's office administrative assistant.
Some fire departments had exempted churches in their fire districts after voters approved having dues collected through the tax collector's office. The dues are collected for homes and businesses the same way as county property taxes. The county had allowed fire chiefs to call in and exempt parcels, officials said previously, but an attorney general's opinion released in October said those exemptions might not be legal.
Fire departments give the county information on what parcels to assess, Assessor Bill Moutray said. Fire departments are responsible for making sure the law is followed, he said.
"They tell us what parcels, and we keep up with it," Moutray said.
The county does not plan to change how it gets information from departments about fire dues, Moutray said. Brewer said fire chiefs have contacted the assessor's office to make sure all churches will be charged fire dues this year. The dues are not retroactive, Brewer said.
The inconsistency over the fire dues became an issue after Gary O'Neal, a Mountain Springs Baptist Church deacon, complained his church was charged when others weren't. The Highway 94 East Volunteer Fire Department chief later exempted the church.
Only Beaver Lake and Highway 94 East fire departments allowed church exemptions among the county's six fire districts, according to county documents.
The county has collected dues for the Beaver Lake department for about five years and always exempted churches, Chief Jerry Owen said. The department's fire board recently voted to charge every structure the $75 dues, he said.
"Whatever the law says -- that's what we do," Owen said. "They're going to pay the tax."
The change affects only one church in the Beaver Lake district, Lake Side Baptist, Owen said.
A message left at the Highway 94 East department was not returned.
Moutray said he could see both sides of the issue. Churches are normally exempt from taxes, but fire departments provide the same firefighting services for all structures, he said.
The Beaver Lake fire board doesn't have an official opinion on whether churches should be exempt from fire dues, said Chairwoman Judy Heineman, but in her opinion, they should pay.
"We do provide services, so perhaps it's only fair that they pay just like everybody else," Heineman said.
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