FINCASTLE -- A judge's ruling on whether a retirement community in Botetourt County should continue to receive tax-exempt status won't come until late May at the earliest.

Circuit Judge Michael Irvine has ruled that both the county government and Virginia Baptist Homes, which operates The Glebe in Daleville, will have until May 18 to file final written arguments following a two-day trial that ended Wednesday in Botetourt Circuit Court.

Botetourt County sued The Glebe shortly after it opened in 2005 off U.S. 220. The lawsuit contends that the nonprofit retirement facility is an upscale resort for wealthy retirees and should be required to pay real estate taxes to Botetourt County rather than be exempt under state guidelines that protect religious or benevolent organizations.

The Glebe's parent company is Virginia Baptist Homes, which received the tax-exempt status from the state in 1976. The tax designation allows properties owned by the organization to be exempt from paying state, local and inheritance taxes.

Botetourt County says The Glebe owes the county about $244,000 in real estate taxes, according to information disclosed during the trial Wednesday by the Botetourt County Commissioner of the Revenue's office.

That's a significant amount of tax revenue for the county, which would have to raise the real estate tax rate for its 32,000 residents by a penny to raise that much money in a year.

In dueling testimony Wednesday, a tax law professor called by attorneys for Virginia Baptist Homes testified that he believes The Glebe meets the federal guidelines for a nonprofit organization and operates in a benevolent manner.

"The care it provides is considered benevolent," said University of Georgia law professor David Brennen of the housing, assisted living and nursing care that The Glebe provides its residents.

But an accountant called by the county later in the day testified that from a financial standpoint, The Glebe provides no services to its residents that aren't paid for by them through entrance fees or monthly fees.

"I see no evidence of benevolence," said William Cox, an accountant who has regularly provided auditing services of Botetourt County's annual budgets.

Botetourt County Attorney William Heartwell argued that The Glebe is not benevolent because it rejects those in poor health with lesser incomes. He has referred to the facility as a place for wealthy senior citizens to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, with six-figure entrance fees in the range of $300,000 and monthly fees for some residents that exceed $4,000.

Officials with Virginia Baptist Homes testified that The Glebe initially could only accept residents who had the ability to pay for their entire stay at the facility in order to satisfy the terms of $55.5 million in bonds received from the Roanoke County Industrial Development Authority to build the facility. By those terms, reservations for at least 70 percent of The Glebe's beds had to be purchased by current and future residents who can afford to live there before the facility can accept residents who may need financial assistance.

With that condition met, The Glebe began to accept residents last fall whose life expectancy may exceed their ability to pay.

The Glebe has 153 apartments, 20 cottages, 32 assisted living slots and 32 nursing home slots, according to Monica Hillery, vice president of public relations. Virginia Baptist Homes has three other facilities in Newport News, Culpeper and Richmond.

Lawyers for Botetourt County also attempted to cross-examine a number of marketing professionals hired by The Glebe in an effort to show that only after the facility was sued by the county did it begin to market itself as a religious organization.

Irvine, however, cut off county attorneys from proceeding with the testimony, saying: "I'm not deciding this case based on what ... the marketing plan is."

Irvine, who normally hears cases in Rockbridge County Circuit Court, will file his written ruling in the case after reviewing the written final arguments from both sides in the case.

Staff writer Beth Macy contributed to this report.