Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1943 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF -TEXAS
AUSTIN
IIonarrble John 0, Zsrburget
Gountp Xttorncrp
R3yetts county
La Grange, Texns
19.53 you rsquestsd
our opinion on t xitted to ua the
tollcWing taot
lie Onion OS Texar
(L office lomted
atsrnal benefit
Orated under the
Tltie 78 o? the
cif Toxss, bring Art-
a lodge or society is
0988 ret out In its
ve a oopy of thirr o&mar,
one is filed with the Coma1~-
uprems sirSo* ox hens 0Sticm of
tklg x. J, T. Lodge is loontsd in La Grange,
T*xns, and bss eubordlnets lodges and aooietias
through out z’sxm. A6 X onderstnnd the SaOts,
the prlnoipal purpose of tho IL J. T. Lodge
1s to issue lnsurancs 00rtiri0.!m3 to lt3
smbero, whioh providen for oartaln benefits
upon death or dlsabllitg, TLlo FT. J. '2. f~Od&yJ
rzay ale0 give spaolal rtxliaf frcm tlm to
tine to its needy mwnbera and to needy
Dlvlrltg otudmta, who usually are eleo
meinbbrra. The lodgr lo rnQa&ed in the
business of ilaklng loans on interest with
aoneys that it baa on hand. Thr X. J. T,
Lodge owns valuabls ran1 estate in the
City of La Wang., Texas, on whloh 18 lo-
cated a good rubrtantlal two story briok
bulldlng that has jwt barn resodslrd by
tha lodgs. This building 1s used by the
X. J. 1, Lodge aa itB hmm offlcs, holds
its aeotlnga thrrrln.aaU ita su rem of-
fiosre have their oiiioea there f n. Those
Offlosrs ar6 paid re,gularIy, by the lodge
iron funds it receives frm 16s insurance
pmiumll, assssments, ai’d fro‘3 the interest
it reasivea frca ita loana, ato. Of ovurs8,
al,1 bsnoflta to the polioy holders aad the
brneflalarlss are also raid frm that fund.
Ths subordlnsta 1odEss and sooletles of this
K. J* T. Lades also hold their roguler and
apeclal .ztartlnca in their lodge rmas in
this building, but pay no rent. 30 one pays
any rent to the ii’. 3. T. aa au~h.*
Acti &pi8 v. c. 9., 1925, Frovtdoa in part
93 followat
“Exoept as to premlus on grose reoslpt
tama lsvlad by thlr rsr~tlolo or other pro-
vialxi~ of 18~~ of thla St&O, ix6t4rn.d
benefit soolstlas organlzad or llceesed
under tilLa Chapter arcs hereby daolsrod to
be axexpt iron all and every Stats, oounty,
munlolpal and aohool die,trlot taxes other
thaa taxes on real estate and office aqulp-
mnt whan same is uaetil for other than lodge
purFoaea lnssntioh 8s suoh aoolstioa 81-o
ahnrltabis and bmevoleat In~titutlons.*
~~onorsble Jobs C. !,%rburger, Tar.0 3
AS thb ebova Artlola la a p-et of Chapter e ‘Title
75 ot ths %svleod :;ts’tutee, under whloh the X. J. T, Lodge
was orgmizad and inoorporeted, it is alsar to us th%t winder
the ststutes it wodd be oxaspt tram auoh t~xatlon. .
anaw6? ,
Seotion 2 or Article 9 OS our Constitution provides:
“The Lsglelr3tute nay, by general 111ple~
exenpt Sras teratioa . . . all buildinca
used exoluelveiy end owhed by pezsonr or
aaroaletlonr 0S person6 for sohool ;ur~ose8
. ehd lsmtitutionr OS purely pub110 charity;
&I: all laws exejzptlng pophrty Srom taxstlcn
other than the property ebova mentioned ehall
be null and told.”
ThereSore, 1S the Ii. J’. T. L.od&e 1s en lnstltutlon
*OS purely yubllo chsrlty’ Article 4858 would apply and the
property be exempt Srom auoh tsxatlon. In other sords, the
property OS the X. 3. T. Lodge 1s order to be exempt Srom
taxation end esoape the oharges OS Coverment nust be 4’110
braoed both within some one OS the olaeses named in Seotlon
2 of Artlale 8 a? the Conetltutlon, end also in the exemptions
FrOvlded by Article k858.
The Suprena Court OS Texas, speaking through Judge
Calms in the oaso OS Zorrie v . :&eons, reported ln 5 S. .~:.
519, held thet the proper o.moxuotlon OS the phrsse, “end
~11 institutions OS ,rurel,y pub110 aha.rity;” meant “all bulld-
in@ uead exoluslvely and owned by lnetltutlons OS rurelg
publlo oharlty.”
so nu bulldlq omes within the exemption euthoxlzed
by the Constitution to mlnatitutlone OS purely publio ohsrity”
Wlee~~ it 1s both own&I snd uasd axoluslvsly by suoh en instl-
tutlnn, The above oonstruction by the ::u rem Court should
be Sollowed ss this Gonstltutional provls Pon was subsequently
anended, end this provisIon under oanslderatlon waa oerrled
into the eaeodnent wfttiout ahang@. It is I OonolusiVe pre-
euqtlou thnt the people re-adopted thr provlslon with know-
Le:?~e OS its lntant f&n declared by the Suprene Court.
Honorable John C. Marburger, Page&
As stated in Morris Y. Nasona (eupra) the use
OS the buildings must be exoluaive. See also City OS
Houston v. Soottieh Rite Bene. Ass’n., 230 S. Vi, 978,
decided by the Supreme Court, which re-aitlrms the Morris
v. !&3asons ceae. It was held in Red Y. Johnson 53 Ter. 288,
that the Constitutional requirement la not satlsiied by the
mere tact that those sharing the use pay no rent. This
holding was approved by the Supreme Court in City of
Houston v. Soottlah Rite Bene. Ass’n. (aupra).
You state that subordinate lodges and societies
OS the K. J. T. Lodge also use the building. We would have
to .~LKWwhether these subordinate lodges or aooletles were
nlnstltutiona OS purely public aharlty n in order to determine
whether their use OS the building woul d cause the property ln
question to be taxable. However we deem it unnecessary to
aall on you Sor this additional ksormatlon, as we have de-
aided upon the authority OS the ease OS Conaho Camp, W. 0. 3.
v. City OS San Angelo, 231 S.W. 1106, that the property in
question 1s not exempt from taxation, as the E, J, T. Lodge,
under the holding therein, is not an lnatltutlon “purely 0S
pub110 oharlty.”
‘#e quote Srorn this case:
*We also hold that in this oase Appellant
is not entitled to the exemption, because OS
the Saot that it issues insurance poll~les to
its members: and theresore. it 1s not an insti-
tution purely Sor Dublio oharite.W
To the same eSS4ct see Farmers v. State, 7 S. N.
220. In this aase the Supreme Court held that an organization
was not a corporation Sor b,enevolent purposes where the follow-
ing Saats exlstsdt the oorporatlon was organized to provide
for its members during their liS4 and Sor their Samllies aster
death; the oonstitutlon and by-lawa provided Sor payment oS
a oertaln 4~s to the ben4Slclarl4s on death of a member in
consideration OS membership Sees and certain f Uture assess-
ments, and the oSSlaers OS the corporation were paid Salaries.
110
The above authorities are ins harmony with the
or the other states. Sc48 Boltan 9. iiolton 7)
~6. 299; Coma. t. Yeatherbea, 105 t:ams. 149; State v.
Farmr*a Deur. ALICIA. 18 Mb. 2811 State v. Citlzsn’r
BLtla’n., 6 :io., App, 143, Foople 1. ~~ilson 46 II. Y.
477; Stat* T. Standard tifo Aaa’n., 38 Oh10 281. Se*
also May on lnsuxanoo, Se&ion 550 and 37 CJO, 931.
In addition to thm aboor suthoritirr, in srritine
at our oonolurlon WI hare been guided by the follorrfng rules
of oonstruotlonr
“Taxation is the rule and smaptloa frcm!
taxation the exaeption.* Coolep on Taxation,
2nd ild .) pat* 2%.
Yxesption bslng the sxoeption to thr
general rules, It is not favored, and when
found to axlat, the anaotment by whiah It
is giron will not be snlsr6ad by asnstruotlon,
but on the oaatrsry, will be rtrlotly oonstru~d,W
23 3. c, I,. 313, jrorris v. li:esonr (fwpra); ?0anta
I?osa Inrirnary v. San Antonlo, 259 9. ‘ii’. 931
Coolsy on axatlon, 2nd ?Ed. ppb 20&, 205; city
of l.on&m V. iiarkham - sam9 Zenorial iIOS,pltd,
137 Tex. 178, ,l52 3. Es. (26) 1112.
Also, the ‘dourtin 3. F. 0. X. I,od&a t. City of
Zoustcn, 44 s, 3. (ad) 488, in oonatruln& the phraec, “purely
mblio oh%ri ty* Sal&:
‘The word ‘purely’ la intended to modify
ths word ‘oharity, , and not the word *publlol,
80 as to require the.inatitutlca to hats a
wholly altrufetlo quality Btld ~dudo frOn ft
every private or arm latemsat or woilt
or oorporats 6al.n. city 0r ~ioutltoa t. 3, R.
8. ASS’A., 111 Tex. 191 230 S. ‘n. 978. In
law, ths word ‘purely* ia U8ed in the 8wme
at and equlvalrat to ‘only’, ‘wholly’, ‘axolu-
sively’ ) ‘oonglatrly’ ) * entlmlyl, and
‘unquslliiadly’. 51 C. J. 100.”
Fionorable John C. Uarburger, Pap 6
':'e have also noted Artlolr 4858a Vernon*s
.knnotatsd Civil Statutss; hats 1937, and find that the
grovislona thereof are elmilsr to the provlslona of 4858,
supra, and in legal eil'eot amount to one and the 8am
thing.
%a tharafcze hold that under the faots submitted
to us the property of the E. J. T. Lodge 1s -.ot ox&apt irom
the payment of 3tata and County taxes.
'nuating that the foregoing fully answers pour
inquiry, we are
Yours very truly
i'l. V. Gsppsrt
/AP?- Aeslatfmt