The Rev. Tom Franklin's more than decade-long crusade against taxation and the legal profession may cost the Fort Worth minister -- and his mostly poor flock -- their church.
Local taxing authorities are preparing to foreclose on the New Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in the 5800 block of Oak Grove Road for $69,000 in unpaid property taxes, some of it dating back to 1989.
Franklin will also soon face allegations in state court that he improperly acted as his church's attorney in fighting the lawsuits, something Franklin has said he can do as pastor and spiritual leader of his church.
Franklin said he has not received any notice of court proceedings or any suggestion that local tax authorities are taking steps to foreclose on the church's property, possibly as soon as August.
"I do the work of a pastor. I am a child of God," Franklin said. "Under the Constitution, what they have done is wrong."
State, federal losses
Franklin's church is located on about four acres in southeast Fort Worth. The church building and a parking lot are situated on about half the land; the other half is vacant. It's adjacent to the sprawling Alcon Labs campus.
Over the years, Franklin and his congregation have struggled to pay off their debts -- including their taxes -- after buying the church and the land from a congregation that had disbanded.
In 1993, the Tarrant Appraisal District filed suit, contending that the church owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes. Franklin said the church was tax-exempt, a judge agreed and the minister thought that his troubles were over.
But in re-evaluating the property after the court's ruling, TAD denied an exemption on the vacant portion of the land. TAD said it was going to levy taxes on that half because it was not being used for religious purposes.
Tax officials also concluded that the church still owed taxes on the land before TAD granted the exemption on the section that includes the church, which is valued at $473,000.
In 1998, Franklin returned to court, acting as his church's attorney.
In court documents, Franklin said taxing authorities had discriminated against his church based on race and that they were refusing to recognize its tax-exempt status because the congregation was primarily black.
Franklin moved the case to the federal court, but the judge dismissed his claims because they were not filed by a licensed attorney. The taxing entities vehemently denied Franklin's claims of racial bias.
"We don't pick on anybody. I'd rather not foreclose," said Morris Booth, the chief delinquent-tax officer in the Tarrant County tax assessor-collector's office.
In 1999, a state district judge ruled in favor of the appraisal district, a decision that effectively saddled the church with its unpaid tax debt. Franklin's appeals in state court were unsuccessful.
In the meantime, Franklin's approach to the law came under the scrutiny of a Texas Supreme Court committee that monitors the activities of people who practice law without a license.
The court's Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee sued Franklin in 2003, saying that he improperly represented his church, and others, in court. The committee asked a state district judge to prohibit him from appearing in court as an attorney for anyone other than himself.
Under state law, people can represent themselves in court without an attorney. But the law prohibits an unqualified person from representing another person or entity.
Franklin returned to federal court in Fort Worth and Dallas to fight the state committee. In the Fort Worth court, the minister said his civil rights were being violated. The Dallas case was a class-action lawsuit that accused the state of discriminatory acts. It sought $54 million in damages.
U.S. District Judge Terry Means dismissed the Fort Worth lawsuit in January, but Franklin appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which dismissed the case in April. Franklin dropped the Dallas lawsuit.
Davis McCown, the Hurst attorney representing the Supreme Court committee, said he will ask a state judge to issue a restraining order to prevent the minister from representing anyone but himself in court.
"You don't want other people who are not trained and don't understand the intricacies of the law in a position where they can lose rights and property that can be protected," McCown said.
Church could be sold
Tarrant County and other taxing entities won a $29,600 judgment against the church in April for unpaid taxes on the vacant land. Franklin did not appear in court.
Booth said the county is preparing to sell the land on the courthouse steps, possibly as early as August.
The church itself could be sold because its unpaid property tax bill totals $39,000 on taxes going back to 1989, he said. But the county has not yet received a judgment against the church, Booth said.
Several members of Franklin's congregation -- including his son -- said they were unaware that the church's financial situation had become so dire.
"He's talked to us about a few things," said Wallace Akins, the youth minister. "Whatever he feels we need to know, he tells us."
Randy Franklin, the minister's son, oversees the music program. He said what is happening to his father and the church is unfair.
Tom Franklin said he will make do if he loses the church.
"I'm a child of God. God has taken care of me for 68 years," Franklin said. "I marry folks. I baptize them. I bless the babies. The Lord is still in business. It is not going to affect God one way or the other."