FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 20, 2007
HUDSON VALLEY LGBTQ CENTER
TURNS BACK CITY OF KINGSTON’S
LEGAL CHALLENGE TO ITS NON-PROFIT STATUS
KINGSTON, NEW YORK (Feb. 20) – The Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center has prevailed in a legal battle with the City of Kingston over its proper status as a non-profit concern that is eligible for property tax exemption.
In March 2007 Kingston's assessor denied The Center’s application, claiming the Center was primarily a social organization. The Center appealed to the Board of Assessment Review, but the Board denied that appeal. Saddled with a tax bill of $9,000, the Center filed suit in court to compel the City to recognize that its activities entitled it to the exemption.
Through the efforts of the Center’s attorneys, the City recently acknowledged that the Center's activities meet the legal requirements for a tax exemption, and the parties stipulated to a court order saying so. With the entry of that court order today, the dispute is resolved.
"Today's decision reaffirms two truths which we hold to be self-evident,” said Ginny Apuzzo, Center board president “One, that an LGBTQ organization like the Center deserves fair and equal treatment under the law. And two, that we will never, ever settle for anything less.
“We are engaged in building a major community institution, not a mere social club,” Apuzzo added. “The City of Kingston knew this from the beginning. It is unfortunate that legal action was necessary for the city to finally, legally, recognize our mission and our relevance to this city.
“This victory reaffirms the vital importance of allies in our community's ongoing struggle for equality, and we are extremely grateful for the invaluable support, guidance, and representation of Lambda Legal Defense; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson; and the Worker's Rights Law Center." All three of these legal organizations worked on the case pro bono.
Said Thomas W. Ude, Jr., Senior Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal, "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the City of Kingston, and that the City now recognizes the important work that the Center does in the community. This agreement will help the Center's work to continue and to grow."
Ude and Susan Sommer, Senior Counsel in Lambda Legal's Headquarters in New York handled the case. They were joined by Patricia C. Kakalec, Executive Director of the Kingston-based Worker's Rights Law Center of New York, Inc. and Attorneys Janice Mac Avoy, Jennifer L. Colyer and Ron Lazebnik of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson LLP in New York.
The Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center was founded in 2005 to advocate and educate on behalf of the LGBTQ community in the Hudson Valley. Since that time, the Center has attracted more than 1,100 dues-paying members and is creating programs to empower the LGBTQ community to achieve their maximum potential. LGBTQ refers to the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of the community served: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. To learn more about the Center, visit www.lgbtqcenter.org.