The City Council of Mission, Kansas – a suburb of Kansas City between Shawnee and Overland Park – adopted an ordinance back in August of this year that is causing controversy now. The Ordinance, No.1332 was established to enact a “Transportation Utility Fee.”

In other words, all property under the jurisdiction of the city that has improvements such as, buildings, landscaping, outside storage, or parking lots–is subject to the fee, which functions as an additional property tax.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have announced that they have filed a lawsuit on Monday, on behalf of two churches in response to a city of Mission property tax disguised as a “driveway fee” to evade having to grant exemptions to churches.

Similar driveway taxes have been struck down by Supreme Courts in Florida and Idaho.

The “Transportation Utility Fee” bills property owners based on the number of trips in and out of their driveways. The city of Mission has labeled the driveway tax as a “fee” and has therefore charged churches, non-profit organizations and charities ordinarily exempt from property taxes under state law.

The city has actually seen fit to include in the ordinance, verbiage that states that churches, non-profits and charities, are not exempt from the fee.

Read More:

http://www.examiner.com/evangelical-in-national/city-sued-over-driveway-taxes-for-churches-and-other-non-profits