Churches Warned They Would Have to Cut Services. Days Later, the Minister Said Their Property Tax Break Stays

• Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said churches will keep their property tax exemption
• Section 10 of the Property Tax Act covers chapels, rectories, church halls, school rooms and churchyards
• The government was owed more than $10 billion in property taxes at the time
• Church leaders had warned that paying the tax would force them to curtail community services

In February 2017, with the Government looking at funding options for the 2017-2018 Budget and property tax arrears in the billions, church leaders moved quickly to defend one of their most valuable financial protections: exemption from property tax on their buildings and land.

In early February the Gleaner reported warnings from two senior church figures. Reverend Gary Harriott, general secretary of the Jamaica Council of Churches, said that if churches were made to pay, “the churches would not be able to deliver services to communities”. He added: “What we are doing the Government is not doing, and if we were to pay over property taxes, it would mean that the Church would have less resources.” Reverend Devon Dick, president of the Jamaica Baptist Union, pointed to tax breaks granted to others: “So I do not think there should be a problem with the Church getting a tax break.”

Within days, Local Government and Community Development Minister Desmond McKenzie put the matter to rest, the Gleaner reported on February 11. Speaking in Port Maria, St Mary, at the launch of an official mobile property tax unit, he rejected the idea that taxing churches had ever been on the table. “I want to make it abundantly clear that at no time was any such mention made and that what existed before in terms of property tax payment will not change,” he said. At the time, the government was owed more than $10 billion in property taxes.

The exemption sits in Section 10 of the Property Tax Act. It covers church-owned buildings including chapels, rectories, caretakers’ cottages, school rooms and church halls, together with the churchyards or burial grounds attached to them.

For congregations, this is one of the quiet foundations of church finances in Jamaica: land and buildings used for worship and related purposes are not a recurring tax bill. But the protection is tied to how property is used and held. Churches that own rental units, commercial lots or idle land should check with their attorneys and the tax authorities which parcels actually qualify, and keep titles and valuation records up to date, so that a future budget debate does not catch them unprepared.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com