On Wednesday, the Greater Greenville Housing and Revitalization Association (GGHRA) appealed the decision of the Washington County Board of Supervisors to rescind the organization’s tax exemptions.
The BOS voted 4-1 during their regular meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 6, to accept board attorney Willie Griffn’s recommendation and adopt an order which states, “The board, after having received a report and recommendation that the declaration of Greater Greenville Housing Revitalization Association as an organization entitled to tax exemptions, solely because it is a nonprofit or organization created by the former Greenville Housing Authority was not legally permissible, hereby finds that the exemption should be rescinded and withdrawn retroactive to the date of issuance on issue parcel of property.”
District 1 Supervisor Lee Gordon was the dissenting vote as he proposed postponing the decision in order to give GGHRA additional time to provide the necessary documentation to justify its tax-exempt status.
As stated in its appeal, GGHRA is a “Mississippi non-profit corporation formed on March 1992 by the filing of Articles of Incorporation with the Mississippi Secretary of State, is a certified Community Housing Organization (CHDO), and has acted as the Greenville Housing Authority for many years.
GGHRA also asserts in its appeal that since acquiring its first real property for development as low-income housing, its properties have been exempt from ad valorem taxes pursuant to Mississippi law.
Every year, the BOS approves the tax rolls which have not included the GGHRA properties as they were deemed to be tax exempt.
In July, Griffin asked GGHRA officials to appear before the board to discuss the tax-exempt status.
They appeared at the conclusion of the Aug. 1 meeting of the BOS.
The BOS requested that Griffin have further discussions with the City of Greenville and GGHRA, but according to GGHRA officials, contact was not made by Griffin subsequent to the meeting.
During the Sept. 6 meeting, Griffin told the BOS he had written to GGHRA “earlier” asking the organization, specifically, to provide the legal authority that authorizes them to have tax exemption.
GGHRA’s response, which Griffin regarded as rather “vague,” was they were a quasi-governmental entity — supported by the government, but managed privately.
“They are not a quasi-governmental entity. This organization was established by two members of the community, separate and apart,” he pointed out. “The attorney general has said even if they were an organization that was established by a housing authority, they still wouldn’t be entitled to tax exempt status.”
Griffin also noted he performed an extensive review of the Greenville City Council’s minutes to determine whether the organization was established by the city or not.
He concluded, however, that it was not.
Appeal documents include a copy of the Mississippi Corporation Information System’s verification of GGHRA as signed by then Secretary of State, Dick Malpus, and filed on March 13, 1992 as well a contract executed in Oct. 1995 between GGHRA and Greater Greenville Development Foundation for the purpose of providing “safe and affordable housing revitalization activities, and community re-development for Greenville.”
The contract was signed by then GGHRA president Chuck Jordan, Greater Greenville Development Foundation president Ronnie Tubertini and Greenville Housing Authority president Byrd Sorrels.
In 2019, county tax assessor Mark Seard sought an opinion regarding the tax exemption status of commercial property owned by GGHRA.
The opinion said property owned by any governmental subdivision, which includes housing authorities, but leased to a corporate tenant would be subject to ad valorem taxes paid by the tenant.
Griffin said he first notified GGHRA back in May requesting the legal authority that enables continuation of its tax-exempt status and made efforts to work with the organization in order to find a legal justification for it, but his efforts did not yield the desired results.
“Now if they had been a housing authority that was created by the City of Greenville with a five member board, that is fine,” he said further, recalling the time the organization did have such a housing authority that became inactive.
Griffin also recalled that in 2013, while District 2 Supervisor Tommy Benson served as a councilman along with Mayor Errick Simmons, the Greater Greenville Housing Authority, “in hopes of coming under that umbrella,” attempted to reactivate the Greenville Housing Authority, according to the minutes of the city council.
Griffin highlighted that Benson and Simmons voted to table that effort and the housing authority has ceased to exist.
“That would be the only agency that would be entitled to tax exemption if it acquired property,” he added.
“The city created a tax exemption that you only get up and through the amount of your improvement. That has to be submitted to the city. This association has never applied to the city and they are the ones who supervise who gets these exemptions,” Griffin explained. “But theirs is different — they’re getting credit for county taxes, city taxes and even school taxes, which is never allowed.”
He noted the “numerous organizations” in the Greenville community similar to GGHRA that have attempted similar tax requests and were denied.
“I just want to make sure we get this right because here is my concern — this organization does provide a lot for people at a reduced rate,” said Gordon at the Sept. 6 meeting.. “And you’re probably absolutely right, I would just want a little more time to make sure that we’re doing the right thing since this has been going on for so long.”
During their regular Monday meeting, the BOS granted authorization for Griffin to defend the appeal.
