City of Baltimore v. Minister and Trustees of Starr Methodist Protestant Church

• Citation: 67 A. 261,106 Md. 281
• Parties: MAYOR, ETC., OF BALTIMORE et al. v. MINISTER AND TRUSTEES OF STARR METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH.
• Decision Date: 26 June 1907
• Court: Court of Appeals of Maryland

67 A. 261

106 Md. 281

MAYOR, ETC., OF BALTIMORE et al. v. MINISTER AND TRUSTEES OF STARR METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH.

Court of Appeals of Maryland

June 26, 1907

Appeal from Circuit Court No. 2 of Baltimore City; Pere L. Wickes Judge.

Suit by the minister and trustees of the Starr Methodist Protestant Church against the mayor and city council of Baltimore and others. From a decree for plaintiffs, defendants appeal. Reversed, and bill dismissed.

Argued before BRISCOE, BOYD, PEARCE, SCHMUCKER, BURKE, and ROGERS JJ.

Albert C. Ritchie, for appellants.

Alonzo L. Miles, for appellees.

ROGERS J.

This is an appeal from a decree passed by the circuit court No. 2 of Baltimore City enjoining Henry Williams, city collector, from selling for the purpose of state and municipal taxes certain wharf property in Baltimore City, the income, rents, and profits of which belong to the appellee, and further enjoining the mayor and city council of Baltimore and the appeal tax court from assessing said wharf property for the purpose of municipal taxation.

The appellee is an incorporated religious body and a branch of the "Trustees of the Maryland Annual Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church," incorporated by the acts of the General Assembly of Maryland of 1890, p. 182, c. 181. A certain Wesley Starr, late of Baltimore City, deceased, by the last will and testament, gave and devised "unto 'the minister and trustees of the Starr Methodist Protestant Church' in Baltimore City, as a kind of endowment, the rents, profits and yearly income of the wharf opposite the lot on Light street in said city, purchased from J. H. B. Latrobe, trustee and others, January 1, 1842, and at the death or marriage of my daughter-in-law, Mrs. Laura Starr, whichever shall first occur, the yearly rent of two hundred and forty dollars reserved in the said lease from me to them of May last, to be held and enjoyed by said church for and during all time as may elapse, before the corporate authorities, official members or membership of said church shall admit any musical instrument as distinguished from the human voice, into the Sabbath school singing, choir or choir rehearsals or singing schools of said church, held either on the church premises or elsewhere, or shall attempt (I trust they never will) to raise money by the holding, now somewhat fashionable, either in the church or Sabbath school room or elsewhere, of any fair, festival or concert of instrumental music, or by the delivery of any irreligious or political lecture or the still more demoralizing and sinful mode should the churches ever so far degenerate as to adopt it, of balls, parties, lotteries, theatrical performances, raffles or the voting for distinguished individuals; when, and upon the happening of any of these contingencies, the said wharf property and ground rents shall fall into the residuum of my estate and be subject to the disposal hereinafter made thereof; and I give and release unto said church all ground rent in arrear under my lease to them and the accruing rent computed to the day of my decease." The church has collected the rents from said wharf property since Mr. Starr's death, and paid the taxes on said property until the year 1904, when the Legislature, by chapter 263, p. 474, of the Acts of 1904, passed an act, exempting said wharf property from taxation, as follows:

"An act to exempt from taxation certain wharf property on Light street, in the city of Baltimore, belonging to the minister and trustees of the Starr Methodist Protestant Church, in Baltimore City.

"Whereas, Wesley Starr, late of Baltimore City, deceased, by his last will and testament, dated the twentieth day of February, in the year 1866, devised and bequeathed unto the minister and trustees of Starr Methodist Protestant Church in Baltimore City, the rents, profits and yearly income of certain wharf property on Light street, in Baltimore City, hereinafter referred to; and

"Whereas, the restrictions and conditions thrown around said devise and bequest are such as that the said minister and trustees of Starr Methodist Protestant Church are deprived of the full enjoyment thereof, without seriously affecting their proper mode of worship; and

"Whereas, it will be a great relief and benefit to said religious body to exempt said wharf property from taxation.

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, that the wharf property on Light street, in the city of Baltimore, opposite the lot on said Light street, conveyed to Wesley Starr by John H. B. Latrobe and others, trustees, by deed of January 1st, 1842, and recorded among the land records of Baltimore City, in Liber T. K. No. 315, page 316, and by said Wesley Starr devised and bequeathed unto the minister and trustees of Starr Methodist Protestant Church, of the city of Baltimore, said wharf property fronting thirty-one feet and one inch on Light street, beginning at the intersection of Pratt and Light streets, shall be, and the same is hereby forever exempted from municipal taxation so long as the said property, or the income therefrom, shall be owned and enjoyed by the said minister and trustees of Starr Methodist Protestant Church, and that all taxes in arrear upon said property are hereby released and remitted.

"Sec. 2. And be it enacted, that this act shall take effect from the date of its passage.

"Approved April 12, 1904."

Notwithstanding the passage of the act of 1904, exempting said wharf property from taxation, the appeal tax court of Baltimore City retained the property on its assessment books, and the city collector on November 19, 1906, advertised said property for sale for nonpayment of taxes. The minister and trustees of Starr Methodist Protestant Church filed its bill of complaint in the circuit court No. 2 of Baltimore City, setting forth the provisions of chapter 263, p. 474, of the Acts of 1904, and prayed that the appellant Henry Williams, city collector, be enjoined from selling the aforesaid wharf property, and that the judges of the appeal tax court be required to strike from the tax books of the city of Baltimore the said property, in so far as the same is assessed to the appellee. The court ordered the preliminary injunction to be issued as prayed, with leave to appellants to move for its dissolution. After motion to dismiss and hearing, the preliminary injunction was made permanent, by final order of the court, and from that order this appeal is taken.

It is apparent that the constitutionality vel non of Acts 1904, p 474, c. 263, lies at the root of this contention, and, as the determination of that question will settle the entire matter, we will confine this discussion to that point, because, if null and void, it confers no exemption upon the property in question from assessment and taxation for municipal purposes. In support of the appellant's position, reference is made to Declaration of Rights, art 15, which provides that: "Every person in the state, or person holding property therein, ought to contribute his proportion of public taxes for the support of the government, according to his actual worth in real or personal property; yet fines, duties or taxes may properly and justly be imposed, or laid, with a political view for the good government and benefit of the community." This provision has, with a slight but not material change of phraseology, been a part of the organic law of Maryland for considerably more than a century. Its predominant object is to provide by a fixed enactment equality in taxation, and to prevent, as far as possible, the burden of supporting the government from falling upon some individuals, to the exclusion or exemption of others. It prohibits unjust discriminations, and whilst it remains in force the landowner, be his possessions large or small, will have an absolute and complete guaranty that public taxes cannot be imposed upon him while others who are equally responsible in the law may have themselves relieved of this burden by the partiality of legislative enactment, without subserving any public policy. Its...