An Alaskan city council has reneged on a plan to give a historic local church funding to repair the outside of the building after a national secularist group voiced a complaint.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has claimed victory after the city assembly of Sitka voted 4 to 3 against a motion to give St. Michael’s Cathedral $5,000 from the municipality’s visitor’s enhancement fund to repair exterior damages to the church building.
FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement after the vote, “It’s a fundamental American principle that citizens may not be taxed to support a church. We’re pleased that the majority of Sitka City Assembly members nixed this very bad idea.”
Local radio station KCAW reports that the idea to donate $5,000 to the church, which is a key focal point in the town and is suffering from structural problems and a leaking roof, was proposed to the city assembly on Nov. 7 and spurred much debate surrounding the issue of separation of church and state.
The cathedral, which is a replica of a cathedral that burned down in 1966, is in such bad shape that it has been placed on the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation’s list of 10 most endangered properties in the state.
City Attorney Brian Hanson told KCAW that although he still believes that the town is on solid legal ground to donate the money to the church, he suggested that the $5,000 isn’t worth a potential lawsuit.