GREEK ORTHODOX MONASTERY OF SAINT BARBARA v. MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-3576-04T33576-04T3

GREEK ORTHODOX MONASTERY

OF SAINT BARBARA,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP,

Defendant-Respondent.

___________________________________

 

Submitted November 2, 2005 - Decided

Before Judges Wefing and Wecker.

On appeal from the Tax Court of New

Jersey, No. 5729-2003.

Stanley S. Spector, attorney for appellant.

Dowd & Reilly, attorneys for respondent

(Bernard M. Reilly, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Barbara, Inc. ("Monastery") appeals from a judgment entered by the Tax Court denying its application for an exemption for real property located at 106 David Court, Middletown, New Jersey. These premises are located in a single-family neighborhood and were previously owned by Raymond and Jane Bertolette, who resided there with their three children, including Raymond Bertolette III. All of the Bertolette children are now adults. Raymond Bertolette III is now known as Father Archimandrite Ephraem, having become a monk in the Eastern Orthodox Church. At the time of the subject proceedings, he lived at 106 David Court with his mother, his father having died some years earlier. As a result of his father's death, the property was owned by his mother. The Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Barbara, Inc. was incorporated in 1983 under N.J.S.A. 16:15A-1 to -6, and in 2002 Jane Bertolette conveyed her interest in the property to the Monastery.

In 2002, the Monastery filed an application for exemption of real property taxes. The application was signed by Father Ephraem as Abbott of the Monastery. The application stated the Monastery's purpose to be "prayer and study and [to] maintain chaplaincies in hospitals and university." Father Ephraem supported the application with a detailed description of the interior of the premises and the work he performed in the surrounding community as a religious figure of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Middletown denied the application for tax exemption, and an appeal was taken to the Monmouth County Board of Taxation. The County Board also denied exemption, and a further appeal was taken to the Tax Court. During the course of the proceedings, Father Ephraem's mother died, and Father Ephraem is now the sole occupant of the premises. A one-day trial was held, following which the Tax Court judge issued an extensive written opinion, setting forth her factual findings and legal conclusions.

We have reviewed the record in this matter, and we affirm, substantially for the reasons expressed by Tax Court Judge Gail Menyuk in her written opinion of January 3, 2005.

 
Affirmed.

(continued)

(continued)

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A-3576-04T3

November 22, 2005