Brewer v. Am. Missionary Ass'n
| Decision Date | 21 December 1905 |
| Parties | BREWER, Sheriff, et al. v. AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASS'N. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Taxation—Exemptions—Charities.
A corporation, organized and conducted purely for charitable purposes, owned real estate and buildings which were used solely in conducting a school. Nominal fees were charged for tuition and board, but the income thus derived fell far short of the expenses of the institution, and the deficit was supplied by donations collected by the corporation. The school yielded no profit, and the corporation declared no dividends, nor were profits or dividends in contemplation in the conduct of either. Held, that the property was exempt from taxation under the provisions of section 762 of the Political Code of 1895.
[Ed. Note.—For cases in point, see vol. 45, Cent. Dig. Taxation, §§ 389, 394-402.]
(Syllabus by the Court.)
Error from Superior Court, Liberty County; P. E. Seabrook, Judge.
Action by the American Missionary Association against A. B. Brewer, sheriff, and others. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendants bring error. Affirmed.
This case comes up on exceptions to the overruling of the defendant's demurrer to the petition. The petition was, in substance, as follows: The plaintiff is a New York corporation, whose sole business, occupation, and purpose is receiving money by donations from charitably inclined persons and distributing the amounts thus received among various charities in which it is engaged indifferent parts of the United States; its chief charity being that of education. Plaintiff owns certain real estate in Liberty county, Ga., known as the "Dorchester Academy, " which is delivered over to one Fred W. Foster for the purpose of operating and conducting a school for the education of negro youths. No profit or income is derived by plaintiff from said school; but, on the other hand, a very large deficit is incurred each year by the person operating it, and this deficit is paid each year by plaintiff. The average attendance of the school during the year preceding the filing of the petition was 415 pupils, and a tuition fee of $1 per student per month was charged. No other sums are derived from or paid on account of the institution, except a small amount for board, which is fixed at $7 per student per month, not more than three-fifths of which is paid in money, the remainder being paid in labor, which is not needed by plaintiff, but which is accepted out of charity and as a part of plaintiff's scheme of teaching, in which self-sustenance and self-reliance are in this manner taught. At the end of each scholastic year, or from time to time as there may be need, the person in charge of the school notifies plaintiff of the difference between the expenditures necessary for the operation of the school and the amounts received from board and tuition, and this deficiency is paid by plaintiff without further recourse upon any one. The deficiency thus incurred will average from $4,000 to $4,500 per year. During no scholastic year has there failed to be a deficiency, and plaintiff has never derived any profit or benefit from the school, save the work accomplished in carrying out its scheme...
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Mayor v. Brenau Coll., (No. 1815.)
...opinion of Candler, J., it was assumed that buildings include the ground upon which they are located. In Brewer v. American Missionary Association, 124 Ga. 490, 52 S. E. 804, this court evidently considered that the whole property, buildings and grounds, was exempt from taxation. In Cassian......
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Taxable Status of Property Consisting of a 10.5 Acre Tract of Land and All Improvements and All Personal Property Located Thereon at 1700 West Ehringhaus St., Elizabeth City, Matter of
...fact that the residents paid rent according to their ability destroy the charitable nature of the institution. Brewer v. American Missionary Association, 124 Ga. 490, 52 S.E. 804; Williamson v. Housing Authority of Augusta, 186 Ga. 673, 199 S.E. 43; Elder v. Henrietta Egleston Hospital, 205......
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Baggett v. Ga. Conference
...must be controlled by the rulings of this court in Linton v. Lucy Cobb Institute, 117 Ga. 678, 45 S. E. 53, Brewer v. American Missionary Association, 124 Ga. 490, 52 S. E. 804, and Mayor, etc., of Gainesville v. Brenau College, 150 Ga. 156, 103 S. E. 164. We agree with the learned counsel ......
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Baggett v. Georgia Conference Ass'n of Seventh Day Adventists
...this instrument to have exempted the property involved in this case, but they did not. We have no power to exempt it. In Brewer v. American Missionary Association, supra, decision was put upon the ground that the institution there dealt with was a purely charitable institution. The Constitu......