Tax break for the O'Keeffe - Front Page - Georgia O'Keeffe Museum - Brief Article

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe recently announced that it has reached an agreement with Santa Fe County regarding property taxes. Declaring the O'Keeffe a tax-exempt educational institution, a court ruling reached last fall stipulates that the museum is no longer required to pay property taxes on its main building, which is located near the town center, although it must pay taxes on an adjacent cafe, since it is not contained under the same roof as the main museum building. The O'Keeffe brought the case against the county several years ago to establish its eligibility for tax-exempt status.

Since its inauguration in 1997, the museum has been obliged to pay property taxes because, unlike most other states, New Mexico has never clarified whether its constitutional exemption for educational facilities and state-run art venues applies to private museums. It was left up to the various counties to decide the tax status of museums under their jurisdiction. Santa Fe's county assessor took the position that private museums are not educational institutions; he therefore imposed the taxes on the O'Keeffe, as well as the recently opened Museum of Spanish Colonial Art and the over-50-year-old Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. The other two institutions will also benefit from the outcome of the O'Keeffe case, and their property taxes will now be waived. The county has also agreed to refund the O'Keeffe Museum $12,000, representing one year of property taxes.

According to O'Keeffe director George G. King, the resolution stands as an important victory not only for Santa Fe museums but also for the state's cultural community as a whole. The ruling helps to clarify the tax-exempt status of private museums and will dissuade tax assessors from challenging that status in the future.

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