County Fights Aberdeen Heights Over Bid for Tax Exemption
The assisted living facility in Kirkwood has applied to be exempt from real estate and personal property taxes. County Assessor Jake Zimmerman is saying no.
St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman said he is fighting efforts to avoid real estate and personal property taxes by the owners of a Kirkwood home for elderly residents.
Aberdeen Heights, an assisted living facility at 200 S Kirkwood Road, claims to be a religious institution, according to the release from Zimmerman's office. That would make it exempt from taxes.
Zimmerman called the facility "a luxury retirement community for affluent residents."
It "claims to be a religious institution," Zimmerman's statement said. "However, its actual economic activity is virtually indistinguishable from that of a for-profit business."
- See the complete statement from Zimmerman attached to this article.
A report on KSDK.com said the news station had investigated the claim to be a religious institution by Aberdeen Heights and that the statement from Zimmerman was a response to that story.
In a statement to KSDK, Bruce Shogren, president and CEO for Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, the parent company of Aberdeen Heights, said the community is more than just a senior living community.
"Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America was granted a nonprofit tax exempt designation by the Internal Revenue Service," he said in the statement to KSDK. "As a nonprofit organization, we are able to provide a quality lifestyle for older adults in St. Louis County."
Do you think the retirement community should get exempt status?
carol
6:02 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
no
jimmiebigballs
7:36 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Make them pay taxes! This is a sham! Go JAKE!!!!
Lois McSwain
7:42 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
No! I live just down the street & I have noticed an increase in traffic as well as ambulances going to the facility. Obviously, they use our police, ambulance services, & our roads. The residents have bought the property they live in & should pay taxes along with the rest of us. I priced Aberdeen Heights when my mother was looking for senior apartment. They are quite expensive.
Jim W
9:29 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Someone at a government level screwed up big time. You would think this would have been documented in writing before it ever got off the ground. Surely the idea of taxation came up before the deal was permitted.
John Ellis
2:44 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013
My understanding is that they never brought up the idea of being tax free when they applied for and were granted their permit to build. They are a for profit business and certainly should be paying taxes just like everyone else. Kudos to our new tax assessor for making them do the right thing.
jimmiebigballs
2:29 pm on Friday, March 8, 2013
They are going to have a huge government subsidy if they don't pay taxes. Is that fair to the other providers paying their fair share? I think not. I applaud Jake for giving them more than a once over. Make them pay....
Linda Loves to Garden
7:41 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013
No-They should pay taxes--at least their fair share if they want to be part of this community. It would be interesting to see how many EMS calls Kirkwood provides to Aberdeen Heights on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis and estimate the costs for these calls. I think kirkwood residents might be shocked to discover that they are likely already subsidizing Aberdeen Heights existance. I took a class at the firehouse and virtually every EMS call I heard was from Aberdeen Heights. make 'em pay folks.