NY Courtroom Dismisses Civil Rights Go well with Filed by Mt. Nice- Legion of Christ Church

A piece of the former mountain of the Legion of Christ. Pleasant property now owned by EF Academy

A New York state supreme court ruled on July 6 that a civil rights lawsuit filed by the Legion of Christ against the city of Mount Pleasant contained no evidence of discrimination against city officials and dismissed the lawsuit for lack of evidence.

The legal argument was based on the fact that the City Assessor determined that a vacant 161 acre property in Thornwood, Mt. Pleasant was subject to tax. The Roman Catholic Order, based in Cheshire, Connecticut, had sought tax-exempt status as a religious group.

The Legion bought the former conference center in 1996. It consisted of two parcels, a 164-acre undeveloped area and an adjacent 97-acre lot that contained the conference center. In 1997, the Legion applied to the city for tax-exempt status for the unimproved property, which the city refused after 25 years of litigation.

The Legion of Christ no longer owns the former conference center. In 2017, the EF Academy opened a private boarding school on the property. The Legion still owns the unrepaired property and is attempting to sell the property to one of several interested developers.

“I am pleased that the Supreme Court continues to uphold the city appraiser’s findings on the taxation of the Legion’s 161 hectare undeveloped property. It was never about religious discrimination, ”said City Mayor Carl Fulgenzi. “The two decisions are a huge benefit to the city’s taxpayers to ensure that our institutional properties pay their fair share of property taxes so that the property tax burden on our residents is alleviated.”