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Thursday, November 18, aoio | The Red a Black
Local case may have significance for nonprofits
By DREW HOOKS
Tot Rkd & Buck-
It continues. For now, at least.
On Nov. 8, the Georgia Supreme Court
settled a dispute between the Nugi Phillips
Memorial Foundation, Inc. and the
Athens-Clarke County Board of Tax
Assessors in a 4-3 decision in favor of
Nugi’s Space.
The case centering on whether the
nonprofit qualifies for property tax exempt
status is not settled yet, however. The
county’s attorney has until today to
request a reconsideration of the verdict
from the Georgia Supreme Court.
Even though this is a rare occurrence,
Bob Sleppy, executive director of Null’s
Space, is still uneasy about it.
“I’m holding my breath because it was
a close decision,” he said.
If the county does gain a reconsidera
tion and it wins, Sleppy said Nugi’s Space
may have to pay back taxes since 2007
when it was granted exemption.
There are even further implications if
the county goes on and wins a victory in a
higher court. The Georgia Center for
Nonprofits, a statewide organization that
has allied with Null’s Space, released a
statement claiming a loss could redefine
what is considered charitable in the state
and pave the way for the negation of
property tax exemption for other non
profits throughout the state.
“Literally millions of charitable dollars
that would have otherwise gone to cause
related activity would be redirected to
local government as tax payments," the
statement read.
The dispute began in 2006 when Nugi’s
CRIME NOTEBOOK
BEEB! BEEB! BEEB!
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Your RA is knocking on the door. It’s
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Pulling sweatpants from your closet,
you wonder who forgot their Pop-Tart in
the toaster this time.
Excessive fire alarm activations is a
trend in dorms.
Wednesday morning, hundreds of stu
dents stood on the curb outside Brumby
residence hall at 2:13 a.m. the most
recent fire alarm activation on campus.
The dorm was evacuated after smoke
was detected on the seventh floor,
according to the Athens-Clarke County
police report.
This is the 10th reported fire alarm
activation on campus since Nov. 1.
“Because fire spreads so quickly, we’re
not going to leave people in the build-
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▲ Null’s Space, a local organization for Athens musicians, is facing a
legal battle that could force it to pay back taxes from 2007 to present.
Space applied for property tax exempt
status its directors believed should be
granted to them given the passing of a
referendum that year granting exemption
to nonprofits that owned property.
The Athens-Clarke County Board of
Tax Assessors denied them the exemp
tion and the case was taken to the Athens-
ONLINE
Police Documents
ing,” said University Fire Safety Manager
Russell Dukes. “Most alarms are from an
early warning system of some type. The
whole purpose of smoke detectors is to
protect students before it gets to a dan
gerous point.”
Unattended cooking is the most com
mon culprit; however, Dukes said there
could be several causes of activation.
His advice to avoiding incidents
don’t leave cooking unattended, watch
out for damaged equipment and report
alarms activated as a prank.
“Prank fire alarms are just a horrible
thing,” he said. “They desensitize people
to the alarm.”
—Compiled by Jacob Demmitt
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NEWS
Clarke County Board of Equalization,
which granted Nugi’s Space property tax
exempt status. This decision was appealed
by the Board of Tax Assessors to the
superior court, which upheld the ruling.
However, the Board of Tax Assessors
decided to take the decision to the state
and in November 2009, the Court of
1
MEACAN KELLEY Th. R*r. 4 Bun
A Wells Ellenberg, a student representative,
voiced his opinion at Wednesday’s meeting.
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Appeals sided with the Board. This deci
sion was later overruled by the Georgia
Supreme Court on Nov. 8.
The Board of Tax Assessors felt Nugi’s
Space used its property In a manner that
did not align with its mission, Sleppy
said.
The activities in question are the occa
sional times throughout the year when
the organization rents out its building for
birthdays and retirement parties. The
income from these transactions is used
for the maintenance of the property and
for providing counseling, Sleppy said.
The victory in the legal battle was
accomplished with the help of attorney
Jim Wames, who Sleppy said had been
representing the organization pro bono
throughout the case.
“We can’t give enough credit to Jim for
sticking with us and believing in our mis
sion,” Sleppy said. “If we were forced to
pay for this, we would be put in a position
where we’d have to cave.”
If nothing happens today, Sleppy said
Nugi’s Space can finally use the money it
has been budgeting for property taxes
toward expanding the amount of people it
can help. Sleppy said he would like to see
more cooperation between nonprofits and
faith-based organizations specifically
those that provide psychological and emo
tional assistance to residents —and coun
ty governments.
“I would hope the county would look at
nonprofits and faith-based organizations
as allies in helping the community by
relieving the burden from the county,” he
said. “We contribute a significant amount
of aid to folks in Athens who need help and
would otherwise go to a county facility."
MEETING:
New policy
affects few
students
► From Page 1
small number,” Ellenberg
said.
Thompson said though
only a minority of the stu
dent body would be affect
ed by the amended policy,
it’s still an important issue
to address.
“I don’t think it will be
that far-reaching in terms
of the amount of students
it affects, but it does affect
some students who really
need that extra time,”
Thompson said. “It will
really benefit those stu
dents who need the extra
time to perform well.”
The committee also dis
cussed amending the
University’s withdrawal
policy. After the University
suspended a student for a
second alcohol-related vio
lation, he was withdrawn
from all of his classes. He
had one “Withdraw
Passing” and received four
additional WPs from his
instructors, but the last
WP was converted to a
“Withdraw Failing” because
the University's policy
mandates the fifth with
drawal is an automatic WF.
“When you look at viola
tions of alcohol and other
drug policies, not only are
these students facing sus
pension and other punish
ments from the University,
many times they are also
facing punishments from
federal and local authori
ties,” Ellenberg said. “From
a student perspective, it’s
double punishment. Not
only are you getting pun
ished by authorities out
side of the University, but
you’re also being harmed
academically.”
The committee decided
to table this proposal, and
the action item will be
revisited in its next meet
ing.
CORRECTIONS
In Tuesday's story ■
“Libraries debut
Apple iPad program
today " it was incor
rectly stated that
University libraries
purchased iPads
using student technol
ogy fee money. The
iPads were not pur
chased by University
libraries with student
technology fee money,
but with private
money. The Red &
Black regrets this
error.
Editor-In-Chief:
Daniel Bumett
(706) 433-3027
randb.com
Managing Editor
Carey O'Nell
(706) 433-3026
mesi randb.com