Tax Exemptions
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This is one clergyman who thinks that the proposed tax break for clergy housing now before the Board of Equalization (Part I, Jan. 6) is one of the most bone-headed ideas to come up in a long time. Clergy do not need and do not deserve any tax break on their housing, especially in a country where the church and state are separate.
Priests, ministers and rabbis receive a salary just like anyone else, and in California most Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis own their own homes. We do not want to receive special treatment because of our occupation. We are all citizens of this great land and we all ought to share the burdens of it equally.
Incidentally, there is a false impression in the community that churches do not pay taxes. Churches do pay healthy assessments for flood control, street lighting, police and fire protection.
SAMUEL G. PLATTS
Sylmar
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