Churches to Be Taxed in Berkeley

Churches in Berkeley are being ordered to pay taxes like other nonprofit organizations in the city.

Last month, the city informed churches that they will be taxed 60 cents for every $1,000 in donations they receive. A mailing also told the congregations that they must register like other nonprofit groups.

City Finance Director Sonali Bose said about 300 of an estimated 600 nonprofit organizations operating in Berkeley are registered with the city. She said the municipality must either exclude all nonprofit groups from taxation or tax them all equally.

The order follows a unanimous ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990 that upheld the imposition of a California state sales tax on religious organizations on the same basis as it was applied to other groups.

However, Joe Conn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Berkeley might run into constitutional problems by basing the tax on a percentage of church contributions.