Tax Liability Cited—

St Rose To Pass Up

$1 Million Donation

By Kaaren Valenta

St Rose of Lima Church announced this week that it will not be able to accept the offer of a $1 million donation from a family in the congregation toward its building expansion campaign because the gift, as proposed, could create a tax liability for the parish.

The Peter D’Amico family had offered to donate $1 million toward a church community center/gathering hall that also could be used as an athletic facility, provided that the facility would be open to use by sports organizations in the community. The $1 million would have been in addition to the $5 million goal of the building campaign because it would have required expansion of the facility beyond the church’s original plan.

Part of the proposal called for the establishment of a nonprofit management company to rent out the building and field for sports purposes. The nonprofit corporation would have been responsible for scheduling, upkeep, and all maintenance of the facility.

The Rev Robert Weiss, pastor of St Rose, said that both the parish and the Diocese of Bridgeport felt the proposal presented a good opportunity to assist both the parish and the community.

“It was an extremely generous offer,” he said.

Over the past few months representatives of the parish and the diocese met and discussed the best way to implement the proposal. In addition, the diocese retained an attorney to assist in the analysis and structure of the D’Amico proposal.

In a letter that Father Weiss read to the congregation last Sunday, Michael T. Dolan, diocesan counsel, said the parish and the diocese were unable to find a way to assure that the proposal could be implemented in a way that allowed the facility and the rest of the church property to remain tax-exempt.

As a religious group, the church enjoys exempt status from real property taxes for the ministry and operations it conducts on its property, which is zoned residential.

“The construction and operation of the proposed athletic facility would, we believe, create a tax liability for the facility,” Mr Dolan said. “That would be a financial burden that St Rose Parish would not be able to shoulder.”

Mr Dolan said several scenarios compatible with the D’Amico proposal were explored in an effort to assure the continuation of the tax-exempt status, but each analysis came to the conclusion that the taxability of the property continued to be an obstacle. He said the analysis was confirmed by Jean St Jean, building administrator/zoning officer of the Borough of Newtown, where the church property is located.

Father Weiss said that, despite the decision, he hoped that members of the congregation also would extend their appreciation to Peter D’Amico and his family for their generous offer when they see them. Mr D’Amico is the owner of Bulk Materials International, headquartered in the building at 153 South Main Street that is owned by his family’s SCB Limited Partnership LLC.

Half Of Goal Reached

The parish has passed the halfway point in its $5 million building campaign, with 750 gifts and pledges totaling $2.6 million from the 3,200 households that are members of St Rose, according to Joseph Cascio, campaign coordinator.

The renovation and expansion project will be as it was originally conceived, with the construction of two buildings: a religious education center and a community center/gathering hall that would replace the existing parish hall. The building campaign also would add more parking spaces and reconfigure the traffic flow on the property.

The community center/gathering hall would accommodate approximately 700 people for large church functions; parish, youth group, and religious education school, social, and sports activities; and would provide a worship place during holidays and for all masses when the church is eventually renovated. The center will include a stage, a sound system, a multipurpose-use floor, bleachers, a kitchen, restrooms with handicap access, and storage areas.

It would include one gym, not the three that had been proposed if the $1 million donation had been accepted.

“We are back to the original plan,” Mr Cascio said. “The dream was to break ground in 2005, but we need to have one-half of the money in the bank before we can put a shovel in the ground, so the parish is probably looking at 2006.”

In 1999 the church conducted a Millennium Survey, asking parishioners for their opinions on the needs in such areas as spiritual development, community development, Catholic education, and facilities support. For the past year a parish building committee worked to develop a master plan with input from the pastor, the education staff, the church finance committee, and various parish groups and individuals.