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chocolatechase
Newbie
Joined: Aug 27, 2007
Posts: 7
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 Posted:
Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:50 am |
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I called my loacl church, told them what i did, asked them for some pricing for renting their kitchen.. everything seemed fine, they were going to get back to me with a monthly rate.
Finally they called back and said "it can't be done" and their reason was they didn't want me making cakes for my business, because then they would have to change their licencing.. which them would mean their would have to start paying taxes ????
and they are only allowed to rent out to non profit business????!!!!
can ANYONE comment???
does anyone else rent a kitchen from their local church?
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cakedout
Frequent Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2007
Posts: 416
Location: South East PA
Birthday: Dec 12
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Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:25 pm |
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This is true. This is the reason I couldn't use our church for my cake classes.
Our church kitchen is not a health-inspected, commercial licensed kitchen(although we must conform to all health codes)...therefore we cannot have meals/bake sales from there to sell to the general public: only meals provided to our congregation or a private function (wedding, funeral, etc) |
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indydebi
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 15102
Location: Indianapolis IN
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Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:13 pm |
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I've mentioned a few times about my caterer friend who got a deal with a church ... she cleans their church for no salary, and they let her use their kitchen for no rent.
I said something along the lines of 'good thing they had a HD approved kitchen for you' and she said the church kitchen doesn't have to be HD approved .... but she had to have it HD inspected and approved for her use. She said as long as it had the equipment she needed to do her catering business and the HD approved the set up for HER, the church kitchen did not have to be an approved kitchen.
This was news to me and I found it very interesting. So some of you might check with your local HD to see how they view this, to enable you to approach the church board with your proposal and have info in your hand to answer some of their questions.
My friend also made a presentation to the church board rather than pitching her case over the phone. That may help if the church as a group has a question, if you are there to help educate them on how it works, as opposed to the group of church elders having questions and assuming the answers in your absense. |
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adonisthegreek1
Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 14, 2007
Posts: 690
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Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:01 am |
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In Michigan the Dept. of AG told me that the church or hall had to be licensed. They said that the church or hall then had to add me to their license and liability insurance or I'd have to have an independent license and insurance. It's no fun being in Michigan! Our economy sucks and you've got to spend a ton of money to try to make an extra buck. |
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indydebi
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 15102
Location: Indianapolis IN
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Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:52 pm |
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| adonisthegreek1 wrote: | | In Michigan the Dept. of AG told me that the church or hall had to be licensed. They said that the church or hall then had to add me to their license and liability insurance or I'd have to have an independent license and insurance. It's no fun being in Michigan! Our economy sucks and you've got to spend a ton of money to try to make an extra buck. |
my gosh, it sounds like someone is sitting around on a committee with the goal of "let's see how hard we can make this for people! Wah-ha-ha-ha!!!"  |
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crazyladi
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 22, 2007
Posts: 65
Location: Thumb of Michigan
Birthday: Dec 30
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Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:20 pm |
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I'm from MI too & just starting to look into all this. So have you checked into exactly how much insurance would cost? Would you just go to you personal ins. agent or is this special type insurance? |
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darlaslade
Newbie
Joined: Sep 20, 2006
Posts: 17
Location: Mississippi
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Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:31 pm |
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I have just moved to Mississippi and trying to get set up here to do my cakes. I have thought about using a local church, but didn't know if it was possible. Anyone familiar with how things work in Mississippi? Also, if anyone has any good tips that would help get started, would be of great help, thanks. |
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chqtpi
Frequent Member
Joined: Jul 17, 2006
Posts: 278
Location: Upstate New York
Birthday: Aug 05
Gallery Supporter Member
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Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:33 pm |
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I was also told "no"..due to the fact that not only would it screw up their tax-exempt status, but it would screw up their liability insurance....the same thing was said with the Fire Department here ..which is very sad because they just put in a new kitchen with 4 ovens  |
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indydebi
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 15102
Location: Indianapolis IN
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Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:46 pm |
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| crazyladi wrote: | | I'm from MI too & just starting to look into all this. So have you checked into exactly how much insurance would cost? Would you just go to you personal ins. agent or is this special type insurance? |
YOur personal insurance agent is probably licensed to sell commercial insurance also. Most of them are (that's where the big money is!) If by some slim chance he/she isn't licensed to sell commercial, ask them to refer you to a commercial agent.
Just liability insurance should run you around $500 or less per year. This depends on the state you live in and may differ, but based on the various threads I've read on this topic, $500 +/- seems to be the norm across the board.
While you're looking into it, check on commercial auto coverage. If you are in an accident while delivering a cake, your insurance company could (not saying they will, but "could") deny the claim and cite that you were using the vehicle for business while carrying a personal policy .... you don't have a contract with them for business coverage. After someone sues you for $100,000 is NOT the time to try to figure it out. |
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iamlis
Frequent Member
Joined: Oct 05, 2007
Posts: 454
Location: Kansas City, MO
Birthday: Oct 09
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Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:50 pm |
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This is the thing...churches have the best kitchens and are rarely used during the week. BUT, they qualify as tax exempt which means ANY church in the united states should not "rent" you space. I know for a fact that is a law, unless they want to lose that tax exempt status, they should not be getting paid under the table to rent the space that is given to them at a special standard. NOW this is not to say some churches WON'T do it, but when it comes to you are doing this to be liscenced, then the health dept. will come to inspect you, and most of those kitchens are not mandated to be inspected under special church/state guidelines. Sooo...it can be a major red flag, and jeopardize their status. Nothing like a little good news  But don't be upset with the church, they are trying to follow the laws they have in order to preserve their congregation. |
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dustymorris
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 14, 2007
Posts: 77
Location: Valliant, Okla
Birthday: Sep 25
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Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:51 pm |
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Why don't you try your local community center? I know that church kitchens are made for the churches use, and not for the public....that is why they don't want to have to adjust thier insurance....not that they wouldn't want to help you out. And the insurance would probably go up so much that even your rent money wouldn't make up the difference, thus putting a burden on the churches finances.
Now as far as a community center goes, they may already have the kind of insurance that is needed for what you are wanting to do. I really am not sure about this, but I think it is worth a shot. |
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