Ramapo, NY - Towns Denial of Tax Break for Synagogue Upheld in Court

Ramapo, NY - The town's denial of a property-tax exemption for a synagogue's congregation that appeared to gain income from a rabbi's apartment was upheld in state Supreme Court.

Justice Thomas Dickerson of White Plains found that Congregation Or Yosef wasn't entitled to an exemption - for reasons ranging from its violation of zoning codes to its "double-dipping" into taxpayer funds by having most of the rabbi's rent paid by a federal subsidy. "First, the congregation operates a synagogue, a mikvah, a shul, and provides a residence for its rabbi and his family," Dickerson wrote in the Sept. 27 decision, "and has never filed development site plans nor applied for or obtained building permits and a Certificate of Occupancy for anything other than a single-family dwelling with a finished basement."

Town Attorney Michael Klein said the violations were discovered during a routine review begun after the tax exemption was sought for the 32 College Road property. A violation notice was subsequently posted by the town.
Ramapo had also argued that the exemption was undeserved because the rabbi-tenant was employed only part-time by the synagogue.
But Joel Scheinert, a Nanuet attorney representing Rabbi Baruch Moscowitz, said the Rabbi spent at least 60 hours weekly on congregation business, there is no law requiring "that the rabbi must be in a full-time position in order for the congregation to receive an exemption on his residence."

The court decision did not dwell so much on whether the rabbi's work schedule entitled his congregation to a tax exemption. Instead, Dickerson noted that the federal Section 8 Housing Voucher Program was paying $1,617 monthly of Moscowitz's rent. "The congregation," Dickerson wrote, "cannot seek two governmental subsidies for the same property" by receiving federal funds for the rent while also requesting a tax exemption.
"In addition, the credible evidence demonstrates that the congregation is making a profit from this arrangement," Dickerson said.

During a one-day trial held in February, Moscowitz's wife, Baila Moscowitz, testified about numerous expenses, including a cleaning woman, snow removal, landscaping and utilities.