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ATTORNEYS FOR PETITIONER: DAVID M. AUSTGEN TIMOTHY R. KUIPER JOSEPH C. SVETANOFF AUSTGEN KUIPER & ASSOCIATES, PC Crown Point, IN

ATTORNEYS FOR RESPONDENT: GREGORY F. ZOELLER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIANA ANDREW W. SWAIN CHIEF COUNSEL, TAX SECTION JESSICA E. REAGAN DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL Indianapolis, IN

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IN THE INDIANA TAX COURT
ST. GEORGE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH,

FILED
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

May 07 2009, 3:14 pm

_____________________________________________________________________ CLERK ) ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Cause No. 45T10-0712-TA-79 ) LAKE COUNTY PROPERTY TAX ) ASSESSMENT BOARD OF APPEALS, ) ) Respondent. ) ______________________________________________________________________ ON APPEAL FROM A FINAL DETERMINATION OF THE INDIANA BOARD OF TAX REVIEW FOR PUBLICATION May 7, 2009 FISHER, J. St. George Serbian Orthodox Church (St. George) challenges the final determination of the Indiana Board of Tax Review (Indiana Board) which denied it a property tax exemption for the 2001 and 2002 tax years (years at issue). The issue on appeal is whether St. Georges cultural center is entitled to the religious purposes exemption for the years at issue.

RELEVANT FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY In 2000, St. George, an Indiana not-for-profit corporation, applied for, and received, a property tax exemption on the property it owned and operated in Schererville, Indiana. At that time, St. Georges property consisted of its church, a priests residence, a garage, a community hall, and the 73.2 acres of land upon which those improvements stood. In 2001, St. George completed construction on a 39,000 square foot cultural center.1 On March 3, 2003, St. George filed two applications with the Lake County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) seeking a religious purposes exemption on the cultural center for each of the years at issue.2 The PTABOA denied both applications because they were not timely filed pursuant to Indiana Code

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