TUCSON (AZ)
KVOA
In the settlement of a lawsuit, the Pima County Assessor's Office must give back all but $5,000 of the nearly $50,000 in property taxes that had been paid on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson's downtown headquarters in the 2004 tax year.
The lawsuit was filed last year by the Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Tucson, which argued that as a charitable entity it should be completely exempt from paying property taxes on the headquarters.
The settlement was signed by Pima County Superior Court Judge Carmine Cornelio late last month.
Under state law, properties of charitable institutions are exempt from taxation if the institutions and property aren't used or held for profit. ...
The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization last year in the face of 22 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by local clergy.