Morris freeholders uphold preservation grants for churches
The Morris County freeholders unanimously upheld the eligibility of churches for historic preservation grants after listening to two hours of opposition and support.
“I don’t want to be funding anyone else’s church,” Long Valley resident Wayne Laraway angrily told the freeholders before they voted about 10 p.m. Wednesday to support a resolution that affirmed the county’s commitment to preservation and acquisition of historic properties and the eligibility of religious institutions for grants.
Some 75 people, including local clergy, municipal officials, historians and believers in a firm separation of church and state, crowded the freeholder meeting room for the debate. Though the issue of the freeholders allowing houses of worship to apply for county historic preservation grants had been brewing for nearly a year, it publicly came to a head on Jan. 14, when Freeholder William “Hank” Lyon proposed a resolution to end the eligibility of churches for the grants. He said the the practice appeared to violate the state Constitution.
On Monday, Lyon withdrew his opposition to the grant giving, saying its constitutionality is ambiguous and a subject better left to judges or for a constitutional amendment considered by voters.
But people for and against the preservation grants to churches came to Wednesday’s meeting.
At the Wednesday work session, Freeholder Director Kathryn A. DeFillippo and Freeholder Douglas R. Cabana proposed a resolution to be announced at the public session. Their resolution, passed unanimously by the board around 10 p.m., reaffirmed the availability of historic preservation grants to churches.
Since 2003, applicants have received $22.6 million in historic preservation funding from the county; churches account for 32 percent of the total.
Lyon had said his withdrawn resolution stemmed from a section in the New Jersey Constitution that states, “Nor shall any person be obliged to pay tithes, taxes or other rates for building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right or has deliberately and voluntarily engaged to perform.”
A staunch supporter of the grants, DeFillippo told the crowd: “I plan to put this issue to bed so it doesn’t come up again, at least in my time.”
Among at least two dozen speakers on the issue, including the Rev. Janet Broderick, rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and president of the Clergy Council in Morristown, noted the social activism of county churches that run soup kitchens and outreach programs and homes for people with AIDS and open their doors for substance abuse meetings, concerts, festivals and as warming centers during emergencies.
“Only a fraction of our buildings have anything to do with worship,” Broderick said.
Bob Fredericks, historian for Morris Township, declared that the community would be poorer without its historic buildings. He was armed with petitions signed by 2,291 people who opposed a ban on preservation grants for churches.
The Rev. Cindy Black, rector of Church of the Redeemer, called churches “a vital part of the history” of the county and said individual congregations could not maintain historic churches, many older than a century, without outside financial assistance.
“The truth is, we don’t have parishioners with deep pockets or endowments coming in,” Black said.
Roland Lucid told the board he marvels daily at “the diversity of special structures in Morristown.” An attorney, Lucid said the constitutional clause had to do with protecting people’s freedom to worship and not with the physical confines of that worship house.
But at least half the speakers, noting they are church-goers themselves and appreciate the social services provided by houses of worship, said the good deeds of churches are not the point. They noted that the grants violate the state Constitution.
Hanover resident William Eames, who had pushed for a ban on grants for churches along with his wife, Barbara, proposed that a separate fund could be established with voluntary, not conscripted, funds set aside for church preservation. William Eames and a few other grant opponents warned of the risk of government influence on churches that accept the grants.
“The (constitutional) clause is absolutely clear. It’s not ambiguous at all,” William Eames said. “A church that depends on government (funding) is not a very safe church.”
Kinnelon resident Nelson Helu said he attends church five days a week but is strongly opposed to the grants. He equated use of taxpayer dollars in the program to stealing from citizens for purposes outlawed in the constitution.
The resolution of affirmation, Helu said, “Suggests that our laws really don’t matter, and we don’t have to obey them.”
Echoing Helu’s opinion, Morris Township resident Paul Albanese declared: “The constitution is not made out of rubber. Once you start bending the rules, where do you stop?”
Former Madison Councilwoman Mary-Anna Holden was a member of the New Jersey Historic Trust when Morris County voters in 2002 were asked to amend the existing Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to include preservation and acquisition of historic properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas or objects. The amendment was supported by 78 percent of the voters, said Holden, who gave presentations to municipalities on the program in 2002.
Holden told the crowd the grants have nothing to do with religious ideologies and applications are judged on neutral factors, and the structures have to be on the state or national historic register. Even steam engines and old schoolhouses have received preservation grants, she said.
“We take the emotion out of judging bricks and mortar,” Holden said.
But Morris Township resident Christine Dwyer remarked to the freeholders that the amendment approved by voters never stated that churches or houses of worship would be eligible for grants.
“There was nothing in that (amendment) about the churches. That was added in later,” Dwyer said.
Several freeholders said they were inundated since Jan. 14 with emails and phone calls about the Lyon resolution, and stopped at the supermarket and even at church. Lyon was applauded when he told the crowd that he listened to many opinions, and, in the end, withdrew his proposal because the constitutional clause was open to various interpretations.
“This is not necessarily the right body to answer those types of ambiguities,” Lyon said.
Cabana, the co-author of the new resolution, said he is fully supportive of grants for historic churches.
“This was never a religious issue. It’s a brick and mortar issue,” Cabana said.
Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com
Below is the text of a resolution unanimously passed Jan. 28, 2015 by the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders:
Whereas, during the 2002 general election the following public question was posed to the voters: Shall the county of Morris amend the present Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to include the purpose of preservation and acquisition of historic properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas, or objects in accordance with P.L. 1997, Chapter 24 and allocate a sum between 1/8 and 1/4 cent of the existing tax for this purpose; and
Whereas, 78 percent of the voters of Morris County supported the amendment to the Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to add the Historic Preservation Trust Fund; and
Whereas, the Board of Chosen Freeholders created the Historic Preservation Trust Fund Review Board, appointed qualified volunteers, and adopted the Historic Preservation Trust Fund Program Rules and Regulations, which include religious institutions as eligible applicants and the preservation activities limited to the exterior and structural and mechanical, electrical and plumbing, of historic structures associated with religious institutions as eligible activities; and
Whereas, since 2003, when the Board of Chosen Freeholders approved the first grants, the Historic Preservation Trust Fund Program has awarded $22,630,070 to eligible recipients; and
Whereas, some of the most valued historical sites in the county of Morris are those of religious institutions and, as such, have received 32 percent of the total funds awarded; and
Now, therefore be it resolved by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the county of Morris in the state of New Jersey that the commitment to historic preservation is reaffirmed, as is the eligibility of religious institutions.