Julia Reischel in The Watershed Post reports that last Thu., Aug. 2, a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled against the Maetreum of Cybele against the town of Catskill with the judge denying the group's attempt at a religious tax exemption. "Catskill’s assessor has repeatedly denied requests by the group to take its property, a three-story former inn on a three-acre parcel in Palenville, off the tax rolls.... The Maetreum, led by Reverend Mother Battakes Cathryn Platine, argued that the property is the worldwide religious headquarters of the Cybeline Revival, a pagan faith. The town of Catskill contends that the property is mainly used for non-religious residential purposes," Reischel writes. Judge Richard M. Platkin wrote, "[T]he primary and predominant use of the property was to provide cooperative housing for a small group of individuals, with the religious and charitable uses of the property merely incidental to this residential use," Platkin wrote. See the full decision below, and read the full story at The Watershed Post.

Matreum v Catskill Decision