From: "Ted White" <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Non-profit Status
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 18:40:51 -0500
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Sci Fi Society Gets Validation and Tax Break
Updated: Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 - 11:08 AM

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The Baltimore Science Fiction Society received
the validation it was seeking from the state's highest court. Not
only that, the society also received a break on its property taxes.
Ruling that the science fiction society's Highlandtown headquarters
qualifies for a property tax exemption, the state Court of Appeals
agreed with the group's insistence that its activities and programs
have legitimate educational value.

The chairman of the society's board of directors, Dale Arnold, said
the ruling marked a a victory both for the society, and for the genre
of science fiction as it struggles to seek a place at the high table
of literature.

"It does vindicate the validity of science fiction literature as,
indeed, literature," Arnold told The (Baltimore) Daily Record.

The appeals court reversed the late Baltimore City Circuit Judge
Robert I. H. Hammerman, whose suicide last month made national
headlines, and upheld a ruling by an administrative Tax Court.

In Arnold's view, Hammerman had appeared hostile to the concept of
science fiction, viewing the society, which was founded in 1974, more
as a hobby club where much of the interaction between members and the
public was of a social nature.

The issue revolved around the definition of "educational purpose." To
be eligible for property tax exemption, nonprofit organizations have
to show that their properties are "used exclusively for a charitable
or educational purpose to promote the general welfare of the people
of the state," according to the tax code.

The Court of Appeals took account of the society's annual young
writer's competition. In addition, the society holds writing
workshops, has a library for its members and runs an annual
convention where science fiction novelists and scientists discuss
their work. Judge Alan Wilner, writing for the majority, wrote that
those initiatives serve an educational purpose, making the society
eligible for the tax exemption.

Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey G. Comen said the decision
was "something we can live with" because the court has for the first
time indicated how literary groups should be treated when deciding on
tax-exempt status.

"We are happy in that we have a test now we can apply to literary
organizations," he said. "We never really had that before."

Information from: The Daily Record

<http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=364372>

--Ted White