Texas City Says It Has Too Many Churches

Stafford, Texas has 51 tax exempt churches and religious institutions in its seven square mile boundaries. With no property tax, the city depends on business fees and sale taxes for revenues that churches do not produce. Today's Los Angeles Times reports that the city is looking for ways to keep more churches out of its remaining 300 undeveloped acres. Most who attend churches in Stafford live in Houston and elsewhere outside the city. Until an ordinance was passed in 2003, there was virtually no review of applications to build churches. City Councilman Cecil Willis said that when he asked the last 15 churches that located in Stafford why they chose the location, they replied that they had prayed about it and God told them to located there.