Nashville, TN

In December 2016, a federal district court in Tennessee dismisses for lack of subject matter jurisdiction a claim by the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) lawsuit challenging a Tennessee property tax exemption law on religious freedom grounds. In February 2014, ICN sought a property tax exemption for its education building, to be applied retroactively, seeking continuity of exempt status as provided by Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-212(b)(3)(B). The State Board of Equalization denied tax exempt status for the period prior to October 2013, when the Ijara payments were ongoing, but granted exemption from that time onward. ICN appealed the decision before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in January 2015, and after receiving an unfavorable ruling, appealed again to the Tennessee Assessment Appeals Committee, which also found that ICN was not entitled to the exemption prior to October 2013 due to the transfer of property in the Ijara agreement. [Source: www.rluipa-defense.com]

Florian Pohl

2014