Matter of First United Methodist Church in Flushing v. Assessor, Town of Callicoon

Summary

The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgments granting the Church's tax-exemption petitions for the 2021 and 2022 tax years. It held that the Church bore the burden of establishing exemption eligibility, while the Town bore the burden of proving a zoning violation sufficient to defeat the exemption, and concluded that the lower courts applied the correct framework and made fact-supported findings. The Court declined to reweigh the trial evidence or disturb credibility determinations.