Fitterer v. Crawford

Decision Date21 May 1900
Citation57 S.W. 532,157 Mo. 51
PartiesFITTERER et al. v. CRAWFORD, Collector.
CourtMissouri Supreme Court

Appeal from circuit court, Grundy county; P. C. Stepp, Judge.

Action by John Fitterer and others against E. M. Crawford, collector. From a judgment in favor of plaintiffs, defendant appeals. Reversed.

This is an injunctive proceeding by which the plaintiffs, John Fitterer, William R. Laferty, and Charles H. Cook, trustees of Trenton Lodge No. 111 of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, seeks to enjoin and restrain the collection of $55.50 taxes levied by the county court of Grundy county in 1897 for state, county, township, school, and other taxes against the property of said lodge, including its lodge building, which property is alleged to be used for purposes purely charitable. A preliminary injunction was granted, which, upon final hearing, was made perpetual. Defendant appeals.

John W. Schooler, S. S. Kelso, and S. C. Price, for appellant. Hall & Hall, for respondents.

BURGESS, J.

The case was tried upon the following agreed state of facts: "For the purposes of the trial of the above cause, it is agreed that the facts which shall be taken and considered as the evidence in the case are as follows, viz.: That plaintiffs, John Fitterer, William P. Laferty, and Chas. H. Cook, are the duly elected and qualified trustees and agents of Trenton Lodge No. 111 of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and as such trustees have the control, management, and hold the legal title of the property and effects of said lodge and its members in trust for the use, benefit, occupancy, and enjoyment of the officers and members of said lodge. The objects and purposes of said order are to nurse, care for, and provide for its sick, afflicted, and needy members, and their families, bury the dead, care for the widows of its deceased members, and care for and educate their orphan children, and to inculcate in its members the principles of morality, temperance, benevolence, and charity, and teach them their duty and true fraternal relation to mankind. Its revenue is provided by membership fees paid by persons joining the order, dues by its members, and rents as hereinafter stated. Each member of the order, not exempt, is required by its laws to pay as regular dues three dollars per annum. The worshipful master and senior and junior wardens are the committee of the lodge on charity, and the trustees of the lodge, and as such committee are authorized to draw from the funds of the lodge by an order from the worshipful master, any sum not exceeding ten dollars for the relief of any one object at one time. Except as above, the individual members of said lodge are not entitled to receive any pecuniary benefits from the lodge, and in no case are they entitled to receive, directly or indirectly, any benefit, profit, or private gain from said lodge, or in any manner participate in the distribution of the funds or property of the lodge. That John Fitterer, William P. Laferty, and Chas. H. Cook, as such trustees for said lodge, have and hold the legal title of the following described real estate in Grundy county, Missouri, to wit: `A part of lots four (4) and five (5) in block seventeen (17) of the original town (now city) of Trenton, described by metes and bounds as follows, to wit: Commencing at a point on Water street fifty (50) feet and eight (8) inches southwest from the northeast corner of said block at the intersection of Water street and College avenue, running thence southwesterly along the northwest side of Water street thirty-two (32) feet and eight (8) inches, thence northwesterly through said lot four (4) on a line parallel with the side lines of said block of the alley, thence northeasterly along the line of said alley thirty-two (32) feet and eight (8) inches, thence southeasterly through said lot five (5) parallel with the side lines of said lot five (5) to the place of beginning,' — upon which is erected a three-story brick building; the first story of which is a storeroom, and is rented. The second story is also rented. The third story is used and occupied by the members of said lodge as a lodge room and anterooms used in connection therewith. The rents received from the portions of the building rented are paid into the treasury of the lodge. That the lodge borrowed about $9,500 at eight per cent. interest per annum, which is secured by deed of trust on said property, which was used in the construction of said building. That the rents secured from the building are paid to the treasurer of said lodge, and are used, in connection with the other revenue of the lodge, for the purposes of the lodge as above provided, and in paying the interest and principal on said debt. No part of which rents can be paid or used in any manner for the private gain or profit of the members of the lodge, but, after the payment of said debt and interest, must be kept and used as the other funds of said lodge; and any division or distribution of said rents or any other funds or property of said lodge among its members would be in direct violation of its laws and of the obligation taken by its members. That the above-described real estate belonging to the plaintiffs was regularly assessed for taxation by the legally elected and duly-qualified township assessor of Trenton township, Grundy county, Missouri, for the taxes for the year 1897, and the assessor's book was duly made out by the township assessor of said township, and returned to the county court of said Grundy county, Missouri. That said county court levied the proper taxes due the different funds for the state, county, and township funds against said property, and by order of said county court the county clerk of said county made out and extended said taxes mentioned in the plaintiff's petition against said property in a tax book in the manner and within the time prescribed by law. That said clerk delivered said tax book to the defendant, who is the legally elected and duly-qualified township collector of Trenton township, in Grundy county, Missouri, and defendant now has possession of said tax books, and is proceeding to collect, and will, unless prevented, collect said taxes so charged and extended against said property in said tax book as alleged in plaintiffs' petition. And said property is liable for said taxes unless the same is exempt from taxation under the constitution and statutes of the state of Missouri."

The only questions involved in this appeal are whether or not the property in question is exempt from taxation under section 6, art. 10, of the state constitution, and by the provisions of section 7504, Rev. St. 1889, which exempts lots in incorporated cities and towns, not exceeding one acre, with the buildings thereon, from taxation, when the same are used exclusively for purposes purely charitable. While the constitution in express terms exempts from taxation the property of the state, counties, and other municipal corporations, and cemeteries, it does not do so with respect to property "used exclusively for purposes purely charitable," but says that such property may be exempted from taxation, and the legislature, in accordance therewith, has provided that property so used shall be exempted from taxation for state, county, or local purposes. Section 7504, Rev. St., supra. In the construction of laws exempting property from taxation it is a cardinal principle that they must be strictly construed. As a rule, all property is liable to taxation, and exemption is the exception; and it devolves upon the person claiming that any specific property is exempt to show it beyond a reasonable doubt. "It is in no case to be presumed that the law intends to release any particular property from this obligation, and no such exemption will be allowed except upon clear and unequivocal proof that such release is required by the terms of the statute. If any doubt arises to the exemption claimed, it must operate most strongly against the party claiming the exemption." Redemptorist Fathers v. City of Boston, 129 Mass., loc. cit. 180. In City of Bangor v. Rising Virtue Lodge, 73 Me. 428, it is said: "The just and honest rule in assessments for governmental purposes is equality of...

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