MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In light of five fraternities dissociating from and being banned by WVU, county Assessor Mark Musick is investigating whether the frat house properties are now subject to taxation.
Musick said he began looking into the issue several weeks ago when the fraternity controversy first arose. He’s had meetings on it and is gathering information but hasn’t reached a conclusion.
The question arises because state code exempts from property taxes real estate up to 1 acre used exclusively by a fraternity or sorority affiliated with a university. Here is a link to the page containing the code section: — http://www.wvlegislature.gov/wvcode/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=11&art=3§ion=9
For the five fraternities that are forming a new Independent Fraternity Council – Alpha Sigma Phi, Kappa Alpha Order, Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Chi and Theta Chi – university affiliation is broken and Musick is deciding if that subjects their properties to taxation.
Representatives from Alpha Sigma Phi and Kappa Alpha Order said they had no comments on the issue at this point. Representatives for the other three did not respond in time for this report.
Appraised values for the five properties are available at the assessor’s office. A representative of the real estate department said the assessed value for taxation is 60 percent of the appraised. Here is a look at the values. One of the four is owned by a different fraternity and one is owned by a for-profit realty company.
- Alpha Sigma Phi: owned by Kappa Sigma House; building, $451,600; land, $144,500; total, $595,500; assessed, $357,300.
- Kappa Alpha Order: building, $698,900; land, $228,400; total, $927,300; assessed, $556,380.
- Phi Sigma Kappa: building, $936,400; land, $43,400; total, $979,800; assessed, $587,880.
- Sigma Chi: building, $586,200; land, $67,700; total, $653,900; assessed, $392,340.
- Theta Chi: owned by Pinion Realty; building, $541,500; land, $108,900; total, $650,400; assessed, $390,240.
On the topic of the new Independent Fraternity Council, the North-American Interfraternity Conference – a trade association representing 66 fraternities – offered its support.
Spokeswoman Heather Kirk said on Friday, “We are pleased at the progress we have made over the last 30 days to work through many of the concerns of our member fraternities. We will continue to work to seek resolution toward a unified fraternity community at West Virginia that is safe, strong and respects students’ rights.”
Story by David Beard