Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church and the Whistler Interfaith Chapel and Meeting Place will be completely exempt from taxes. Council Monday gave first three readings to a bylaw which will exempt public places of worship, their surrounding buildings and land from all taxes. Buildings set apart for public worship are automatically exempt from taxes, but related properties are not. Whistler has traditionally provided grants in aid for the Catholic Church to cover its school district, regional district and hospital district taxes. By passing a bylaw making the entire church property tax exempt the municipality will be saving money. The bylaw will also apply to the Interfaith Chapel and its lands when that structure is built.
