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The Church of the Sharpie Cross

July 23, 2009

More than one taxpayer has invoked the Deity in vain upon receiving a property tax bill. One Chicago-area taxpayer took it a step further. John Kass of the Chicago Tribune reports:

This is the story of Chicago banker George Michael, who lives in a gorgeous $3 million mansion in Lake Bluff. Being a man of logic and finance, he didn't much like his $80,000 yearly property-tax bill.

So he found an Internet outfit called the Church of Spiritual Humanism. According to the church's Web site, it's not big on faith, but it's all about reason:

"If you agree that Religion must be based on Reason, you can be ordained right now for free, and be still able to practice your own religious traditions by simply clicking the button below:

"ORDAIN ME."

And lo, Michael clicked "Ordain Me," and it was done.

So suddenly his house, including the racquetball court, was a tax-exempt church, he thought. The state wasn't convinced, so he submitted a photo to bolster his case:

But something about the cross on the house didn't look right. A few questions later, Mr. Michael admitted that the cross was added with a magic marker to the photo. For some reason Mr. Michael didn't win his property tax exemption.

The Moral: If you are going to present altered photos in your tax appeal, buy a copy of Photoshop and learn how to use it. Sharpie-shop doesn't cut it.