From the Lafayette
Journal and Courier:
It’s not well known that Westminster Village
offers the public a place to dine and hoist a drink or two in its restaurant or
pub. Westminster Village is in its second year with a three-way restaurant
liquor license, which allows residents of the retirement community the option
to purchase cocktails, wine or beer.
…
But that dining and drinking option is not
common knowledge, and news of the restaurant business has reached officials,
who question whether Westminster’s exemptions from property taxes might need to
be modified.
“I recently became aware that they have a
restaurant operation that’s open to the public,” Tippecanoe County Assessor
Linda Phillips said earlier this week. “They’re currently 100 percent (property
tax exempt). The assessor has come into knowledge that perhaps that 100 percent
is not applicable.
“I had no idea a nursing home would have a
three-way liquor license. It never crossed my mind.”
Westminster administrators might soon
receive notification to explain the exemption to the Property Tax Board of
Appeals later this summer.
Phillips said she would need to give
Westminster administrators a 30-day notice so that they can present its reasons
for why the tax exemption is not affected by the public restaurant. The soonest
that Westminster might appear before the board would be August, Phillips said.
…
Even though Westminster Village doesn’t pay
property taxes, it does contribute to West Lafayette’s coffers, West Lafayette
Clerk-treasurer Judy Rhodes said. Westminster is the only nonprofit that makes
payments to the city in lieu of taxes.
Since its founding in the 1970s, it has
paid $30,000 each year. Starting in 2011, that voluntary contribution increased
to $60,000.
“They have always given a payment in lieu
of taxes,” Rhodes said. “They’ve been unique in all of our retirement communities
about doing that.”
…http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012307010034
