City of Camden v. Camden County Bd. of Taxation

• Decision Date: 29 October 1938
• Docket Number: No. 238.,238.
• Citation: 2 A.2d 40,121 N.J.L. 262
• Parties: CITY OF CAMDEN v. CAMDEN COUNTY BOARD OF TAXATION et al.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

2 A.2d 40

121 N.J.L. 262

CITY OF CAMDEN

v. CAMDEN COUNTY BOARD OF TAXATION et al.

No. 238.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Oct. 29, 1938.

Certiorari by the City of Camden, prosecutor, against Camden County Board of Taxation and another to review the action of the named defendant in canceling taxes and assessments for the year 1937 on property of the Abraham Browning Council No. 122, Junior Order United American Mechanics.

Judgment canceling the assessment affirmed; writ dismissed.

Argued May term, 1938, before BROGAN, C. J., and BODINE and HEHER, JJ.

Firmin Michel, of Camden (William J. Shepp, of Camden, of counsel), for prosecutor.

Clinton I. Evans, of Camden, for defendant Abraham Browning Council No. 122, Junior Order United American Mechanics.

BROGAN, Chief Justice.

The prosecutor of this writ complains that the Camden County Board of Taxation erred in canceling taxes and assessments for the year 1937, upon property of the Abraham Browning Council No. 122, Junior Order United American Mechanics situated in Camden, N. J. The county tax board, in justification of its judgment canceling said assessment, relies upon Chapter 46 of the Laws of 1936 (R.S. 54:4-3.26), the pertinent provision of which reads: "1. The following property shall be exempt from taxation * * * namely: All real and personal property used in the work and for the purposes of one or more fraternal organizations or lodges, or any association or society organized on the lodge plan, or affiliated associations, whether incorporated or unincorporated; provided, that the legal or beneficial ownership of such property is in one or more of the said organizations, lodges, associations or societies; and provided, further, that no part of such property is used for pecuniary profit."

The parties have stipulated that the respondent fraternal organization is incorporated under "An Act to incorporate associations not for pecuniary profit," Laws 1898, c. 181, R.S.1937, 15-1-1 et seq.; that the purposes of the association, as stated in its certificate of incorporation, are to assist and encourage Americans in business, establish and maintain a sick and funeral fund and maintain the public school system of the United States of America; that it is organized on the lodge plan and provides sick and death benefits for its members; that the premises in question consist of a three story building containing lodge offices, meeting rooms and a recreation room and kitchen; that the building is actually used for the purposes of the lodge and no part thereof is rented or used for profit.

The prosecutor's argument for a reversal of this judgment allowing tax exemption for the lodge property is two fold: (1) That the statute is unconstitutional in that it violates Article 4, Section 7, Paragraph 12 of the New Jersey Constitution, which provides that "property shall be assessed for taxes under general laws, and by uniform rules, according to its true value," and (2) that the statute offends the constitutional provisions contained in Article 1, Paragraphs 19 and 20 of the New Jersey Constitution in that an exemption created under it amounts to a donation of public funds to a private association of corporation.

Under the first point the contention is that the statute upon which the exemption is based is special and not general; that it classifies property for the purpose of exemption from taxation on the basis of ownership, and that ownership is not a proper basis of classification; that it contains no substantial basis for classification of...