Brockton, Knights of Columbus Bldg. Ass'n v. Assessors of Brockton

• Court: Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
• Citation: Brockton, Knights of Columbus Bldg. Ass'n v. Assessors of Brockton, 321 Mass. 110, 72 N.E.2d 406 (Mass. 1947)
• Decision Date: 04 March 1947
• Parties: THE BROCKTON KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS BUILDING ASSOCIATION, INC., v. ASSESSORS OF BROCKTON (and two companion cases between the same

321 Mass. 110

72 N.E.2d 406

THE BROCKTON KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS BUILDING ASSOCIATION, INC.,

v.

ASSESSORS OF BROCKTON (and two companion cases between the same

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

March 4, 1947

November 8, 1946.

Present: FIELD, C.

J., LUMMUS, QUA DOLAN & SPALDING, JJ.

Taxation, Real estate tax: exemption. Charity.

Facts set forth in a "case stated" were not necessarily inconsistent with and warranted a conclusion by the Appellate Tax Board that, although the corporate purposes of a corporation owning certain land with a building thereon were charitable and none of its income was divided among its members and it derived no profit from operation of the property, the dominant use and occupation of the building, including use without charge by various other organizations, many of which were not charitable, and maintenance and use of various recreational and other facilities and the sale of sundry articles, from which a substantial revenue was derived, were not for the corporation's declared charitable purposes; and it was not entitled to exemption from taxation of such real estate under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 59, Section 5, Third.

THREE APPEALS from decisions by the Appellate Tax Board. D. J. Triggs, for the taxpayer.

H. C. Gill, (E.

Blumberg with him,) for the assessors of Brockton.

DOLAN, J. These are three appeals under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 58A, Section 13, as amended, by The Brockton Knights of Columbus Building Association, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as the taxpayer) from decisions of the Appellate Tax Board denying abatements of local taxes assessed against the taxpayer for the years 1941, 1942 and 1943 on real estate owned by it in the city of Brockton. Abatement was sought by the taxpayer on the ground that under the provisions of G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 59, Section 5, ^[1] the real estate involved was exempt from taxation. The petitions were heard together by the board upon a "case stated" and an "amendment of `case stated.'" The facts as to each petition were the same in each of the years involved except as to the respective amounts of the taxes assessed.

The relevant facts are these: The taxpayer was incorporated in 1920 under the provisions of R. L. c. 125. All of its incorporators were members of Seville Council No. 93 of the Knights of Columbus. The declared purposes of the corporation are those of "engaging in and promoting work of a literary benevolent and scientific nature; of promoting physical mental and moral education and welfare; and of doing such other acts and things as may assist in the promotion and achievement of the foregoing purposes. While the corporation may have purposes that are different from the purposes of the Knights of Columbus, it shall have no purpose that shall conflict with the purposes, principles and laws of the Knights of Columbus, but on the contrary said purposes and principles of the Knights of Columbus so far as they are or shall be included in the above stated purposes are and shall be always among the dominant and controlling purposes of the corporation." Membership in the taxpayer is composed exclusively of all who are members in good standing of Seville Council No. 93 of the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal benefit society organized under the laws of the State of Connecticut in 1882. The land involved was conveyed to the taxpayer in 1921 as a gift, and in 1928 the taxpayer erected a building thereon at a cost of $91,969. The cost of the building, furnishings and equipment, exclusive of the library, was met by donations made by members of the taxpayer and by others, and by a loan of $20,000.

The building, which is of brick construction, has a floor area of sixteen thousand sixty-five square feet. There are showers, lockers, four bowling alleys, a long hall, a stock room and a boiler room in the basement of the building. On its first floor there are a large lounge, a reading room, a large pool and billiard room, a lavatory, a library, two recreation rooms, a committee room, a treasurer's office, a steward's office and a cloak room. On the second floor are a kitchen, a hall (ninety feet long and forty feet wide), a women's lounge, lavatories, a lodge room, a coat room and a small hall. The valuation placed on the real estate by the assessors in each of the years involved was $30,000.

Subject to the approval of the board of directors, the executive committee manages the building, and during the years in question has allowed the facilities of the building to be used by some forty-five organizations, without charge, as headquarters for planning or engaging in programs and activities calculated to improve their members and others mentally, morally or physically. Among those organizations were four councils of the Knights of Columbus, the American Red Cross, The Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts, Inc., bowling leagues, a golf club, the Buy American Committee, the Old Colony Commuters League, the Brockton Cosmetologists Association The Scribblers Club, the Boost Brockton Committee, a local teachers association, an athletic association, and groups of persons affiliated with certain religious denominations and other civic organizations. The use of the building was also extended to veterans' organizations and their families, whenever those organizations held conventions in Brockton. In the rear of the building there was an area in which the public were permitted to park automobiles free of charge. The entire revenue of the taxpayer other than from donations was that derived from payments ("counter receipts") made for the use of the pool and billiard room, bowling alleys, showers and lockers, and for the purchase of cigars, cigarettes, cards, and candy, by its members and others using the premises. The counter receipts of the taxpayer during the years involved were $4,273.73 in 1941, $3,475.61 in 1942, and $3,534.97 in 1943. Donations received in those years amounted to $2,392 in 1941, $1,700.57 in 1942, and $4,550 in 1943. Operating expenses were $9,429.42 in 1941, $9,219.25 in 1942, and $8,675.77 in 1943. The taxpayer was dependent upon the counter receipts and donations, its annual charity circus, and current borrowings to...