SAUGATUCK, MI – A 3,835-square-foot, two-story home nestled into the dunes on the Kalamazoo River - complete with a small pool, dock and boat garage - qualifies for a parsonage exemption for property taxes, an appeals panel said.

Prophetic Word Ministries, or PWM, an international ministry, bought the property for $595,000 on a land contact in 2011, court records showed.

Allan Tackett, pastor of Waves of Glory, a small church in Ganges and the only one in Michigan operating under PWM, once considered that God’s money could be used more wisely. But as a “faith preacher,” he believed that if he was supposed to have the property, it would work out, court records showed.

Tackett, his wife, Faith, and her parents, Kenneth and Sharon Clinton, have lived in the house since Dec. 31, 2011. All of them have titles within PWM.

Saugatuck opposed a parsonage exemption for the home at 850 Park St., and also challenged its taxable value and sales contract.

The city has been at odds for some time with the house's owners, John Breen and San Marino Holding Inc., records showed.

Breen has denied owning the property, but a judge determined he was the owner, according to court records.

So far, the city – which questioned the authenticity of Tackett’s link to PWM - has been unsuccessful in its efforts to stop the parsonage exemption.

“The law is clear: a ‘parsonage’ … is a structure which provides housing for an ordained minister of a gospel," the Michigan Tax Tribunal ruled in November 2012.

On Friday, April 18, the state Court of Appeals upheld that decision.

“While the subject property has features that resemble a recreational property not entitled to an exemption (i.e., water frontage, boat house, dock, and decks), the facts in this case are distinguishable from a summer cottage," the tribunal said.

The tribunal found it “irrelevant” that Tackett’s in-laws also live in the home. The size of the congregation, 15 to 60 people, also was not a legal issue.

The tribunal said, however, that “It is unclear … how Tackett started a new fellowship church, ordained himself, established himself as pastor of said church, and then purchased a home by the start-up church. … It is unclear how this is not self-serving.”

“It is unclear whether the Legislature intended for a parsonage exemption to be granted in this situation, but the statute having insufficient guidelines is something that must be fixed legislatively," the tribunal said.

The state Court of Appeals said the record showed Tackett to be an ordained minister who presides over a congregation, and is responsible for the needs of those attending his church. Thus, his property qualifies for the exemption.

John Agar covers crime for MLive/Grand Rapids Press E-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar