4 ms·

The Mormon Church Is Quietly Expanding Its Real Estate Empire Across the US

45 points by petethomas 1mo ago

jmpman 1mo ago
In my town, the Native American tribes have been granted a monopoly on casinos. I've been wondering how long before they start a real estate empire, accumulating land right off the edge of their reservation - slowly buying their historical land back. Given a few hundred years, they might regain all their land.
- jart 1mo ago
  Have they been dna tested? My family came to this great country from England in the 1600s and the women in my family have been helping to keep the traditions of the Penobscot tribe alive because they’re such a spiritual people. White Indian women of faith don’t build casinos.
- Ccecil 1mo ago
  The tribe nearby (Coeur d'Alene tribe) has been doing exactly that. They are repurchasing reservation land which was sold off through the years. Overall, from my observations through my life here the tribe's overall quality of life greatly improved in the last 30 years.
- kotaKat 1mo ago
  I'm waiting for a tribe to try the Restasis patent gag again in the current administration. Being First Nations myself I have a lot to say about this (extremely negative) but I'll bite my tongue in the audience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_St._Regis_Mohawk_Tribe_and_Restasis_patent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_St._Regis_Mohawk_Tribe_and...
roosterIllusi0n 1mo ago
They need to be taxed. Its crazy how we don't tax churches and then they can go around buying up assets until they own everything. The US destroyed democracy with tax breaks that allow people and organizations to become rich enough to ignore laws. We used to cap CEO wages with a 90% federal income tax bracket to limit their yearly income. That is what made college affordable, raised wages, ended outsourcing, enabled homeownership out of highschool, etc.
- bennettnate5 1mo ago
  > They need to be taxed > they can go around buying up assets until they own everything The real estate transactions described in the article are purely income-generating rather than related to the mission of the church (e.g. for church buildings, temples); as such, any income from them is subject to income tax already under UBIT laws [1]. Same goes for local/state property taxes. [1] https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/unrelated-business-income-tax https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/unrelated-business...

45 points by petethomas 1mo ago

In my town, the Native American tribes have been granted a monopoly on casinos. I've been wondering how long before they start a real estate empire, accumulating land right off the edge of their reservation - slowly buying their historical land back. Given a few hundred years, they might regain all their land.

jart 1mo ago
Have they been dna tested? My family came to this great country from England in the 1600s and the women in my family have been helping to keep the traditions of the Penobscot tribe alive because they’re such a spiritual people. White Indian women of faith don’t build casinos.
Ccecil 1mo ago
The tribe nearby (Coeur d'Alene tribe) has been doing exactly that. They are repurchasing reservation land which was sold off through the years. Overall, from my observations through my life here the tribe's overall quality of life greatly improved in the last 30 years.
kotaKat 1mo ago
I'm waiting for a tribe to try the Restasis patent gag again in the current administration. Being First Nations myself I have a lot to say about this (extremely negative) but I'll bite my tongue in the audience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_St._Regis_Mohawk_Tribe_and_Restasis_patent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_St._Regis_Mohawk_Tribe_and...

roosterIllusi0n 1mo ago

They need to be taxed. Its crazy how we don't tax churches and then they can go around buying up assets until they own everything. The US destroyed democracy with tax breaks that allow people and organizations to become rich enough to ignore laws. We used to cap CEO wages with a 90% federal income tax bracket to limit their yearly income. That is what made college affordable, raised wages, ended outsourcing, enabled homeownership out of highschool, etc.

bennettnate5 1mo ago
> They need to be taxed > they can go around buying up assets until they own everything The real estate transactions described in the article are purely income-generating rather than related to the mission of the church (e.g. for church buildings, temples); as such, any income from them is subject to income tax already under UBIT laws [1]. Same goes for local/state property taxes. [1] https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/unrelated-business-income-tax https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/unrelated-business...