Source: The Register Citizen
http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2010/04/11/news/doc4bc150f2d5997294242109.txt
A Buddhist congregation finds itself with a distinctly worldly problem — the temple is being taxed on a piece property members say they use for a holy purpose.
International Buddhist Zen Do Inc. owes $13,589.52 in overdue taxes, New Hartford tax collector records show. This bill concerns its 11-acre undeveloped property on Hoppen Road, which it received as a gift from Dr. Newman Hall.
“Right now we are just a survivor,” Sue Yen Sunim, a monk at Dae Yen Sa Buddhist Temple in New Hartford said. “I automatically thought we do not need to pay taxes because we are a religious organization.”
The Buddhist congregants worship at their main property at 19 Kinsey Road. Sue Yen Sunim explained that her fellow Buddhists use their Hoppen Road land as a sacred place where they scatter the ashes of the deceased. The Hoppen Road property is a few miles away from its Kinsey Road property.