insurgent49

July 21, 2006
How We Beat Jerry Prevo
by Clyde Baxley, American Atheists, Alaska Chapter

      I hope you all read the July 1st edition of the Anchorage Daily News where Jerry Prevo paid $50,000 to the Municipality for taxes owed on properties he has held for many years as tax exempt residences for Anchorage Baptist Temple employees.

     Those tax exempt properties have been held tax exempt by ABT for ten years or more. Do the math.

     ABT has avoided the payment of more than $500,000 over those past years. Granted, the Municipality allowed that to happen, so Prevo can count his blessings in terms of tens of thousands of dollars. How many more $50,000 years were the City willing to give up? Are those some of God's blessings that Prevo refers to in many of his sermons? At least for now, this hemorrhage has been stopped.

     So, now is the time to do a little self-congratulating. It was I, along with some valuable help from Ray Metcalfe, who can take full credit for this victory over greed.

     For more than three years, we battled City Hall, including the entire Assembly, the Assembly President, two Mayors, the City Clerk, two Finance Directors, two Municipal Attorneys, the Ombudsman, and finally, the Municipal Assessor. They finally recognized that what I had been claiming from day one that their interpretation of the tax exemption State Statutes was wrong. More likely, they were bending to political pressure from Jerry Prevo and his political assistant, Glenn Clary, to the detriment of the taxpayers of this City.

     I think they finally determined that I was not going to roll over for them and give up the fight. I'm proud to say I'm glad I didn't and had no intention of doing so. The shame, which must be borne by so many City officials, is that they chose to yield to political favoritism rather than do what was right for the taxpayers of this City. I will never forget and will never forgive.

     This entire sordid affair is stark testimony to the rank hypocrisy flowing out of both the Anchorage Baptist Temple and City Hall, bordering on fraud.

     There were only two governmental officials who gave me any help, and I owe them a special vote of appreciation. One was Steve VanSant, the State Assessor. I cannot mention the name of the other because of the sensitive position that person holds. My heartfelt thanks to both of you.

     An interesting by-product of this entire ordeal was the total dismantling of the Board of Equalization by the Assembly in an effort to throw up a barrier to my progress, since the Board of Directors appeared to be leaning toward my position that the tax exemption law was being badly administered.

     The battle has been won but there is one other obstacle that must be overcome to win the war ... the lawsuits filed by ACLU, the American Atheists and me, as the lead complainant, (and others), challenging the constitutionality of House Bill 334, passed by the Legislature this past March, expanding the original tax exempt Statute, and thereby making many other Anchorage Baptist Temple properties tax exempt when occupied by ABT employees.

     Finally, let me say that it is very lonely out there in the wilderness alone doing work for the public good, appreciated by the many who will not lift a little finger to help but will eagerly cash in on the benefits it brings.

     As to the tax exempt issue at hand here, Ray Metcalfe and I have little to nothing to gain except for the satisfaction of doing a great public service. It has been a little costly, but there is no expectation of monetary reward. However, it would be great to hear from those of you who agree with us that this has been a worthwhile effort; a phone call, a cup of coffee, lunch, or just a big smile of thanks.

     If Ray and I had not done this job, it is likely that it would never have been done.

     Clyde Baxley is the Alaska Director for American Atheists. He may be contacted at cbaxley@atheists.org.

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