Norman Scearce. CONTRIBUTED
Montgomery County commission candidate Norman Scearce’s Trotwood church is at the center of a decades-long debate about assessment delinquency and is among the top 25 most delinquent properties in the county.
As of this week, Gateway Cathedral Church at 5501 Olive Road has an assessment delinquency of $128,249, according to tax records reviewed by the Dayton Daily News.
The Montgomery County Treasurer’s Office submitted the property for foreclosure in January. Out of 250,000 parcels in all of Montgomery County, this property is among the top 25 in terms of delinquency, officials say.
The church’s pastor, Scearce, said he is working to deliver a $13,000 down payment to the Montgomery County Treasurer’s Office in the coming weeks to work toward addressing the delinquency.
Scearce is one of three Republicans running in the May 5 Republican primary for Montgomery County commission.
Organizations like charities, faith-based groups, private foundations, political organizations and more can be eligible for a nonprofit designation through the IRS, making them tax-exempt.
The tax-exempt designation does not make a nonprofit exempt from paying other fees that are related to services they receive in their communities, however.
These fees, called “special assessments,” can include charges related to trash collection, sidewalk work, water, mowing and other services. Separate fees can also be charged to nuisance properties.
A limited liability corporation registered to Scearce purchased the property from Mt. Olive United Church of Christ in a private sale for $1,000 in 2014 using a quitclaim deed, according to Montgomery County property records.
Thousands of dollars of assessments and late penalties linked to the property were inherited through this sale. Trotwood had declared the property a nuisance a year before it transferred to Scearce, with Trotwood officials having plans to secure funding to demolish the site.
‘Significant outstanding assessments’
Scearce shared a 2016 letter with this news outlet from Trotwood City Manager Quincy Pope, where Pope said the city was committed to working with him to “mitigate Special Assessments (weed, mowing, curb/gutter) related to the city’s assessments levied against the property located at 5501 Olive Road, prior to Gateway Church’s purchase and/or control of the property.”
According to Trotwood city records, the charges under the city’s jurisdiction prior to 2014 totaled $16,930. Many of these fees were related to stormwater expenses.
Trotwood City Manager Quincy Pope, in a Feb. 8, 2024 letter to Scearce, said the city would not be directly abating the assessments.
“The City is legally required to follow Ohio ethics laws and regulations. That said, if the City can be of assistance it will attempt to help your efforts with the County,” Pope wrote.
Pope told the Dayton Daily News that Trotwood officials have offered to “reduce, but not fully eliminate, the assessments, consistent with the city’s standard practice of offering structured payment options.”
“The property remains subject to significant outstanding assessments and taxes through the Montgomery County, Ohio Treasurer’s Office, totaling in the six-figure range,” Pope said.
Scearce responds
Scearce said Gateway Cathedral took up a vacant building that once held another church congregation. Bringing the building up to standard was a costly investment, but he wanted to ensure people could worship there again.
“We have invested over a million dollars in this building over the past 10-11 years,” he said. “It’s not that we do not want to make good on what we owe, we just assumed that they would make good, too.”
More than 40 payments toward the overall delinquency have been made for the property since the start of 2025. These payments range from $25 to $459.
According to property records, the church has missed payments for the past several assessments levied against the property, including charges as recent as last year for mowing services, Miami Conservancy District fees and stormwater fees.
Properties are often put up for lien sales due to delinquent taxes, but late payments on other fees can also make someone eligible for the lien sale. Montgomery County Treasurer John McManus said the property went up for a lien sale last year, with no buyers taking up the debt.
“This office has been incredibly patient for many years as it pertains to this parcel,” McManus said. “I think there is a recognition that there are some unique circumstances here concerning the debt on this property, but there comes a point when there can be no more delay.”
McManus said options still exist for property owners whose parcel have been submitted for foreclosure. Entering into a delinquency contract after a foreclosure has been filed, for example, pauses the case while payments are being made in line with the timeline agreed to in the contract.
McManus said Scearce still has that option — “I’m hopeful that the parcel gets successfully enrolled in a contract and gets back on track and out of delinquency.”
“No Treasurer wants to have to foreclose on a church, especially not an active one that is doing good work in the community,” McManus told this news outlet. “It’s a painful thing to have to do.”