To all Virginians who care about Scouting:
A state constitutional amendment is needed to keep scout troops, packs etc. exempt from car tax and other local property taxes. I’m asking everyone to write to their state representatives and senators to support such an amendment, and to spread the word to others to do the same. (Sample letter/email, amendment text, and legislator contact info are below.) PLEASE FORWARD TO SCOUTERS, SCOUTS, PARENTS, UNIT ALUMS ETC. Legislation goes nowhere if legislators don’t hear from citizens supporting it.
Troop 167 in Arlington recently had to pay more than $3,000 in car tax and “business property tax” after its sponsorship changed from a Methodist church to a nonprofit. Many nonprofits have to pay these local taxes even though they are exempt from state and federal taxes. Virginia’s constitution and statutes do exempt “the Boy Scouts of America” from local taxes, along with churches, other youth organizations, and veterans’ groups. However, scouting units’ property legally belongs to the community institutions that sponsor them.
So the tax exemption for scouting does not work as intended, but that wasn’t a problem as long as scout units were sponsored by churches. But now, many churches have stopped sponsoring scouting, including the Latter-Day Saints, the United Methodist Church, and several Catholic parishes. Many Methodist churches and at least one Episcopal church are letting scouts keep meeting at the churches, but they have to be sponsored by new nonprofits, which will be taxed on scout units’ vehicles and all other property. Meanwhile, many other scouting units have separate nonprofits that support them and hold their vehicles and other property.
Virginia’s laws on local tax exemptions can’t be changed without amending the constitution. Any amendment first has to pass both houses of the legislature in the January, 2025 session, then pass them again in the 2026 session, and then go on the ballot in the 2026 general election. So please write to your state delegate and your state senator, and also please share this with others who support scouting. When an amendment is introduced, scouts may also want to attend its committee hearings to show their support.
A sample letter/email to legislators is below. https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/ will tell you who your legislators are.
If you have any questions, you can reach me at John@crouch.law or 703-887-9350.
John Crouch
President, Prime the Pump, Inc., which sponsors Troop 167 at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, Arlington
Chartered Organization Representative, Troop 641 and Pack 641, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, formerly at Walker Chapel United Methodist Church, Arlington, sponsored by Lodestar 641, Inc.
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Identify your State Senator and House of Delegates member at https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/
SAMPLE LETTER TO LEGISLATORS
[Add your home address -- important!]
Re: Local tax exemption for scout troops
Dear Delegate ________ and Senator __________:
I’m asking you to support a state constitutional amendment to keep scout troops, packs etc. exempt from car tax and other local property taxes. One troop recently had to pay $3,000 from its $25,000 budget for "business personal property" tax and for car tax on its vans, which ensure equal access to meetings and events for low-income youth, and which delivered food to needy families at the start of the pandemic. Code § 58.1-3614 exempts “the Boy Scouts of America” from local taxes, along with churches, other youth organizations, and veterans’ groups. But the problem is, scout troops’ property legally belongs to the community institutions that sponsor them.
This was not a problem as long as scouts were sponsored by churches. But now it is a growing real-life problem, because many churches have stopped sponsoring scouting, including the Latter-Day Saints, the United Methodist Church, and several Catholic parishes. Many Methodist churches and at least one Episcopal church are letting scouts keep meeting at the churches, but they have to be sponsored by new nonprofits, which will be taxed on scout units’ vehicles and all other property. Meanwhile, many other scouting units have separate nonprofits that support them and hold their vehicles and other property.
The law also needs to be changed because the BSA has recently changed its legal name. Under the Virginia Constitution, the legislature cannot expand local property tax exemptions; that requires a constitutional amendment.
The attached draft amendment amends the Constitution’s section on local tax exemptions to include scout property owned by groups dedicated to sponsoring or supporting scouting units. It does not reduce tax revenue, because the scout groups involved used to be sponsored by churches, which were also exempt. The potential amounts of tax revenue would be tiny in any case, from local governments' point of view, because scouting units do not own real estate. It also deals with the BSA's name change. Finally, it includes rules for what kind of evidence is needed in order for the exemption to apply. That is needed because the law currently requires strict construction and proof for tax exemptions, but those requirements are not workable when dealing with scout troop equipment.
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Constitutional Amendment
Article X, Section 6, Subsection (a) of the Constitution of Virginia is hereby amended to add a new Paragraph (9), as follows:
(9) Property of youth Scouting organizations such as the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, Scouting America, and their subsidiaries, including community-based units serving youth directly, and all property used or kept by such Scouting units, even if held in the name of (i) the institution that sponsors the unit under a charter from a Scouting organization, or (ii) a separate nonprofit organization whose primary purpose or activity is supporting or sponsoring Scouting. Property and organizations may qualify for this exemption based on any reasonable evidence, such as habitual use, markings, names, records, charters, agreements, documents, or filings.