Grasselli Chem. Co. v. Bd. of Assessors of Boston
| Decision Date | 21 November 1932 |
| Citation | 281 Mass. 79,183 N.E. 150 |
| Parties | GRASSELLI CHEMICAL CO. v. BOARD OF ASSESSORS OF CITY OF BOSTON. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Supreme Judicial Court, Suffolk County.
Proceeding before the Board of Tax Appeals by the Grasselli Chemical Company on appeal from the refusal of the Board of Assessors of the City of Boston to abate a tax. From a decision of the Board of Tax Appeals in favor of the Board of Assessors, petitioner appeals.
Petition dismissed.
R. B. Owen and E. R. Anderson, both of Boston, for taxpayer.
C. E. Fay, Asst. Corp. Counsel, of Boston, for Board of Assessors.
This is an appeal from a decision of the board of tax appeals rendered in favor of the board of assessors of the city of Boston on an appeal from their refusal to abate a tax. The relevant facts are that the Grasselli Chemical Company of Massachusetts, a domestic corporation, in April, 1920, by an indenture in writing, leased from the Commonwealth for business purposes a part of the Commonwealth flats in South Boston for a term of ten years beginning May 1, 1920, covenanting to pay rent and taxes during the term. It is alleged in the petition that the lessee was dissolved in 1929 and that an assignment of the lease to the taxpayer, a Delaware corporation having a place of business in Cleveland in the state of Ohio, was not assented to by the Commonwealth. The lease terminated on April 30, 1930. The assessors levied a tax as of April 1, 1930, upon the entire valuation of the land covered by the lease. The sole contention by the taxpayer is that the assessors in valuing the property ought to have taken into account the fact that the lease terminated on April 30, 1930. It was agreed that if this contention was not sound the assessment was reasonable.
[1][3] It is provided by St. 1909, c. 490, pt. 1, § 12, that ‘the lands of the commonwealth, situate in that part of the city of Boston called South Boston and known as the Commonwealth Flats, shall, if leased for business purposes, be taxed by the city of Boston to the lessees thereof, respectively, in the same manner as the lands and buildings thereon would be taxed to such lessees if they were the owners of the fee.’ It appears from the ‘Preliminary Report of the Commissioners to Consolidate and Arrange the General Laws,’ volume 1, at page 101, that this particular provision was regarded as special legislation and therefore omitted from the General Laws. See Resolves, 1916, c. 43. It is provided in G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 59, by § 2, that ‘all property, real and personal, situated within the commonwealth * * * unless expressly exempt, shall be subject to taxation’; by section 5, cl. 2, that there shall be exempt from taxation ‘property of the commonwealth, except * * * lands in Boston known as the commonwealth...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Gloucester Ice & Cold Storage Co. v. Assessors of Gloucester
...This was the construction given to a later form of the 1904 statute 15 in this respect in Grasselli Chemical Co. v. Board of Assessors of City of Boston, 281 Mass. 79, 81, 183 N.E. 150, (in the absence of the statutory words 'to the same extent'), and, sub silentio, in Stoneman v. City of B......
-
New England Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. City of Boston
...by the owner, it is usual for the Legislature to express such conditions in the statute. See, for example, Grasselli Chemical Co. v. Assessors of Boston, 281 Mass. 79, 183 N.E. 150;Assessors of Weston v. Trustees of Boston College, 296 Mass. 399, 6 N.E.2d 363;Irving Usen Co., Inc., v. Asses......
-
Crocker-McElwain Co. v. Board of Assessors of City of Holyoke
... ... upon the interest therein of the person assessed ... Worcester v. Boston, 179 Mass. 41 ... Donovan v ... Haverhill, 247 Mass. 69 , 71-72. In general the tax to ... Haverhill, 247 Mass ... [296 Mass. 349] ... 60, 72 ... Grasselli Chemical Co. v. Assessors of Boston, 281 ... Mass. 79 , 82. See Lodge v. Swampscott, 216 Mass ... ...
-
Crocker-McElwain Co. v. Bd. of Assessors of City of Holyoke
...affecting the use of the land. Donovan v. Haverhill, 247 Mass. 60, 72, 141 N.E. 564, 30 A.L.R. 358;Grasselli Chemical Co. v. Board of Assessors of Boston, 281 Mass. 79, 82, 183 N.E. 150. See Lodge v. Swampscott, 216 Mass. 260, 103 N.E. 635. This is the natural meaning of the word when used,......