The New York Times reports about the small town of Roosevelt, New York that has so many churches that locals wonder if so many tax-exempt properties in one town is a good thing.
Residents here have long wished for a thriving downtown where they could shop and work — a business district that would also help shoulder their heavy school taxes. Instead, there are exactly one supermarket and one bank, zero drugstores and nary a 7-Eleven or Starbucks in sight.
What Roosevelt has in abundance, however, is churches. By one unofficial count, 68 houses of worship have taken root in this small community, which is a bit over a mile in width and in length and has a population of about 16,000.
This trend has produced concern among some community, business and political leaders that the concentration of churches is impeding business. Public officials say the situation leaves them in a quandary, acknowledging the right of churches to open here but lamenting the loss of potential tax revenue.
“It’s like a forbidden subject, but I wish to God I could find a way to stop churches from coming into this community,” said Wilhelmina Funderburke, chairwoman of the Roosevelt Community Revitalization Group, a nonprofit coalition of local organizations.
Read the rest here.