Because the hiking club is nonprofit, it doesn’t have to pay property taxes.

CARROLL, N.H. (AP) – The Appalachian Mountain Club, one of the nation’s oldest conservation organizations, has built a $9 million guest lodge in the White Mountains that has some local businesses questioning its nonprofit status.

The club, which promotes the protection and enjoyment of the mountains, rivers and trails of the Appalachian region, is advertising the Highland Center in Crawford Notch as a new outdoors educational center.

It’s a big step up for the 127-year-old club, which is best known for the eight, rustic mountainside huts it operates along the Appalachian Trail in the White Mountains. They can only be reached by foot.

The town of Carroll appraised the 29-acre property at about $750,000 this spring, before the lodge was completed. But because the Boston-based organization is a nonprofit, it is exempt from paying the $21,000 in local property taxes for the lodge.

That upset some local businesses.

“This isn’t a hiker hut,” said Doug Bews, who owns a small motel and coin laundry in Twin Mountain, a part of Carroll. “This is a big facility run by a multimillion-dollar organization.”

The club has agreed with the town to voluntarily pay $10,000 this year in place of a property tax, and to increase payments in proportion to tax rate increases.

“We want to be a good member of the town,” said club spokesman Rob Burbank.

The club provides many benefits to Carroll and the region, he said, including free classes on the outdoors, a tourist information building and public restrooms in the notch. And for years, club employees and volunteers have maintained hundreds of miles of trails in the White Mountains.

The club agreed to the annual payments, Burbank said, because it recognizes the lodge will require town services, such as fire and police protection. But he said payments beyond that would detract from the club’s education mission.

Burbank said the Highland Center, built with steel made in Berlin and timber from Walpole, was designed to have minimal effect on the environment.

It gathers as much natural daylight as possible to reduce the need for artificial light. It’s heated by a wood furnace and is being landscaped with native plants and trees and crushed stone trails and parking lots, Burbank said.

The lodge sleeps 122, but bunk beds make up most of the lodging, he said. Only a handful of rooms have double beds and private bathrooms. Those can cost up to $143 a night.

Bews said he questioned the club’s nonprofit status when it asked for a liquor license to serve wine and beer with dinners. He cited a state law that says only the first $150,000 in value of an educational nonprofit’s dormitory and kitchen space is exempt from tax; in Bews’ interpretation, nonprofits have to negotiate a payment for property values above that value.

Bews researched state law and presented his findings to the board of selectmen, who passed it on to the town’s lawyer. The lawyer is expected to report back Monday.

Bews said he’s not worried about competing with the club; with a top price of $55 for a single room at his motel, he has a different clientele. But it grates him that he pays nearly $9,000 a year in property taxes for his modest operation, while the AMC has agreed to pay $10,000.

“We have elderly people in town selling their houses because they can’t afford the taxes. We need the help,” he said.

Carroll’s largest hotel, The Mount Washington Hotel, pays $160,000 a year on property that includes the hotel, the Bretton Woods ski area and other properties.

Two of Carroll’s three selectmen said the club has been a good citizen and the lodge is a boon to the town. The third selectman could not be reached.

“If it wasn’t for the AMC, where would our trails be?” said Selectman Bill Wright, the town’s postmaster. “They do good things, I don’t have any problem with the AMC.”

Wright said he didn’t know that the club’s nonprofit status could be challenged. Organizations request nonprofit status from towns annually. If a town refuses it, the organization can appeal to a state board, and eventually, to the courts.

“I’d hate to see us get involved in a court case. But if it came down to that, and we won, (Bews) would be a hero,” Wright said.

Selectman Jay Ouimet said Bews’ argument was persuasive “on paper,” but said he’d wait to hear from the lawyer before commenting further.

The town’s lawyer, Bernie Waugh of Lebanon, did not return phone calls Thursday.

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On the Net:

AMC: www.outdoors.org

AP-ES-09-04-03 1736EDT

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