Should a church lease or own its church facility? Advisors believe that most churches should own their property to build-up equity for future expansion, to lower facility costs, and to avoid paying property taxes.
In Colorado, in order to qualify for real property tax exemption, a church must both own the property and also use the property for qualifying charitable purposes. In other words, a qualifying 501c3 must be in title to the property. So if a church leases from a qualifying 501c3, then no problem. But this is almost never the case. Unlike California, churches thrive in all types of leased commercial properties. But in Colorado, the property taxes alone can amount to $3-4/SF which for a 500 seat church can amounts to as much as $100,000 annually. This is money that is better spent on ministry.
If a church leases property, then it has no opportunity to build up equity either through debt reduction or appreciation. Today, one could argue that church properties and many other commercial property types simply don’t appreciate. Perhaps the most relevant reason for a church to lease, would be if the church is on a steep expansion curve. A church that is quickly adding new campuses, will not likely be able to raise the capital necessary to fund such expansion. Further, expanding multi-sites may need the flexibility to be able to move quickly to a larger facility (if it outgrows a campus location) or perhaps to shut one down if the location was not as successful as hoped.
