Blog note: this letter references a grand jury report.
Having researched JH Ranch’s Welfare Exemption of Siskiyou County property taxes and having presented information on the number of parcels, exemption amounts and loss of property tax revenue figures at Board of Supervisor meetings in 2013, 2016 and 2017, and submitted the 2018 information by letter to the BOS, I was pleasantly surprised the 2018-19 Grand Jury Report discussed this subject in the Summary under F1 and F2.
The Welfare Exemption is unique in that it is co-administered by the State Board of Equalization and Siskiyou County’s Assessor. The BOE determines whether the organization itself is eligible for the exemption (organized and operated exclusively for one or more of the qualifying purposes: charitable, hospital, religious or scientific). The County Assessor determines whether each specific property qualifies for the exemption based on the property’s use. In other words: Is the property used exclusively for religious, charitable, hospital or scientific purposes?
As the Grand Jury Report pointed out, along with the Property Tax Welfare Exemption, JH Ranch is also exempt from paying the Transient Occupancy Tax paid by entities such as Motels, Bed and Breakfast and Airbnbs that provide lodging. JH also pays no federal or state income taxes and is not required to obtain a Business License. Basically JH Ranch operates almost tax free here in Siskiyou County.
Under Section R8 #4: “It should not allow outdoor concerts or similar special events. It is the premise of the Ranch that it operates as a spiritual and contemplative environment. That is part of the self-declared basis of its religious welfare exemption. To deprive others in the area of a similar quiet enjoyment of their neighborhood would be inappropriate.” That statement by the Grand Jury was priceless. I wonder how JH Ranch’s Boutique attorney staff would Lawyer-ize the answer to that? Unfortunately, it is doubtful they will be held to account to answer.
And, speaking of “depriving others of quiet enjoyment of their neighborhood,” brings me to the ‘Tour-izing Effect’ we are experiencing more and more as each Summer season comes to Etna.
We used to hear visiting folks say: “Being here is like going back in time: quiet, peaceful, tranquil, natural beauty, mountain ranges surrounding the valley, so many stars visible in the night sky, awe at seeing the Big Dipper, creates an almost Spiritual Experience.” Specifically the quiet, actually too quiet for some folks!
Now, the ‘Tour-izing’ effect of more and more people coming here brings with it the seeming need to provide entertainment for them. This summer we have had more Main Street closures during weekend afternoons and into the evening, with the ‘main attraction’ being music that can be heard for a five block radius (which encompasses most of the town).
Now, rather than being able to sit out in our back yards on a summer evening and enjoy seeing the Evening Star begin to twinkle, watch the moon rise over Denny Point as more and more stars become visible above the outline of Etna Mountain and Whiskey Butte, we have to shelter in place inside the house, with windows and doors closed to the coolness of the evening, while sound blasts from bands whose audience is within 20 feet of them.
Why come here if you need to be entertained that way? You might as well be in a bar in some big city. The ‘going back in time’ way of enjoying a summer evening would be spent in a lawn chair or chaise lounge, reaching across to take the hand of the special one you share this paradise with, looking up at the night sky, counting stars, making wishes on them, breathing in the fresh air, hearing the crickets, and smiling because you feel blessed to be in a place of such natural beauty and quietude.
That, folks, is vanishing, soon to be a long-ago memory of somewhere back in time.
August 29, 2019
Taft Midway Driller
Submitted by Che’usa Wend, Etna
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