B 26-0613 Legislature · 26th Council Period (2025-2026)

Archdiocese of Washington Parish Real Property, Deed Recordation, and Transfer Tax Exemption Temporary Amendment Act of 2026

This bill temporarily exempts specific real properties owned by the Archdiocese of Washington and its affiliated parishes from property taxes, deed recordation fees, and deed transfer taxes in the District of Columbia. The exemption applies to 13 distinct church properties across the city, including the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and various other Catholic churches, as long as they remain under the ownership of the Archbishop or the specified church corporations. By amending Chapter 10 of Title 47 of the District of Columbia Official Code, the legislation creates a new section that removes these financial obligations for the listed properties without affecting other real estate owners or tax systems. The measure is limited to a temporary period and does not establish a permanent tax exemption policy for religious organizations.
Sub-Topics: Tax Incentives
Bill status signed all 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2026
Committee Review
Council Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Jun 2026
Introduced Mar 2, 2026 Signed Jun 26, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossment → Enrollment · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was finalized and enrolled with minor formatting corrections, such as changing 'The Roman Catholic Archbishop' to 'the Roman Catholic Archbishop' and updating the section title to lowercase. No substantive policy changes, new property exemptions, or funding adjustments were made.
TECHNICAL

Capitalization was adjusted in the bill title and section headers to change 'The Roman Catholic Archbishop' to 'the Roman Catholic Archbishop' and 'Archdiocese of Washington Parish...' to 'Archdiocese of Washington parish...'.

The section title in the table of contents was updated to include a period at the end.

Floor votes · Council Mar 31, 2026

How they voted

13–0
Passed
Total votes 13
Mar 31, 2026
D Democratic11
11 Yea
100% Yea
I Independent2
2 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
12
Key actions
1
Committee
0
Mar 31, 2026
Council · Passed
Council Vote: pass (13-0)
council
Mar 2, 2026
Introduced
B26-0613 Introduced by Chairman Mendelson at Office of the Secretary
legislature
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Phil Mendelson
Phil Mendelson
DDemocratic
DC
Chairman