FFRF has persuaded a Tennessee county to stop giving away land to churches.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners had repeatedly transferred land to churches for nominal sums under a Tennessee provision that permitted this for nonprofits. For example, the county conveyed eight parcels of land to Memphis’ Kingdom Fellowship Baptist Church in 2012 and a further four parcels to the same church in 2015.
FFRF informed the county that it was violating both the U.S. and Tennessee Constitutions by its actions, no less than if it directly transferred taxpayer money to churches.
FFRF advised Shelby County that county property should never be transferred to religious institutions for less than fair market value, since this sort of action forces taxpayers of all faiths and of no religion to subsidize a particular expression of worship.
Shelby County heeded FFRF’s advice. In a recent response, Kennedy acknowledged that FFRF’s letter had made it reassess its actions and that as a result, Shelby County was suspending the land transfers for the time being.
