First Baptist Church of San Antonio v. Bexar County Appraisal Review Board

Today the court considers whether a parking lot owned by a church is “used primarily as a place of regular religious worship,” when 91 percent of the lot’s spaces are leased exclusively to a commercial enterprise from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Incredibly, the majority upholds a finding that the property is used primarily for religious purposes, despite a total absence of evidence to that effect. This holding gives an enormous tax break to virtually any business enterprise that is associated with a religious organization.

The issue in this case is not whether religious…