M. I. T. Student House, Inc. v. Board of Assessors of Boston
| Citation | 350 Mass. 539,215 N.E.2d 788 |
| Parties | M. I. T. STUDENT HOUSE, INC. v. BOARD OF ASSESSORS OF BOSTON. |
| Decision Date | 05 April 1966 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Richard J. Testa, Boston, (Frederick D. Herberich, Boston, with him), for appellant.
William H. Kerr, Boston, for the Board of Assessors of Boston.
Before WILKINS, C.J., and SPALDING, CUTTER, SPIEGEL, and REARDON, JJ.
This is an appeal by the M.I.T. Student House, Inc. (hereinafter called the corporation) from a decision of the Appellate Tax Board sustaining an assessment on the real estate of the corporation at 111 Bay State Road for the year 1959. The corporation asserts that it is a charitable corporation and therefore entitled to an exemption by reason of G.L. c. 59, § 5. The Appellate Tax Board made 'Findings of Fact and Report.'
The facts do not appear to be in dispute. The corporation was established under G.L. c. 180 for the following purposes: 'To help needy students, including those who otherwise could not afford to attend, secure an education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by providing the facilities for and maintaining an M.I.T. Student House, or M.I.T. Student Houses, which shall offer room and board in clean healthful surroundings to said students at a cost which is less than that otherwise available to them at said Institute; to rent, lease, purchase, acquire, own, mortgage, operate, and maintain a house or houses for the dormitory and dining facilities and meetings of said Student House, or Student Houses; and to foster support by the alumni of said Institute to said Student House or Houses.'
The premises are occupied in strict conformity with the aims and purposes as set out in the corporation's charter and by-laws. Any person may become a member by payment of $50, but no part of the corporation's funds inures to the benefit of any member or officer of the corporation. The annual budget figure is set by the board of directors of the corporation, and is submitted to the students who live at the student house and who as a group are obligated to pay this figure to the corporation. The students have their own management system and 'do all of their own work except that they do hire a cook.' Students who are to live at the student house are selected by an admission committee from a list of needy students supplied by the dean of student aid at M.I.T. The cost to the student is approximately $200 less than if he were to live in an M.I.T. dormitory. The Appellate Tax Board found 'that the dominant purpose and activity of the corporation is affording needy and deserving students a dormitory and boarding house.'
The sole issue before us is whether the corporation is exempt from taxation of its property under G.L. c. 59, § 5, Third, the pertinent portion of which provides and exempts 'Personal property of a charitable organization, which term, as used in this clause, shall mean * * *, a literary, benevolent, charitable or scientific institution * * * incorporated in the commonwealth, * * * and real estate owned by or held in trust for a charitable organization and occupied by it or its officers for the purposes which it is organized * * *.'
The board of assessors contends that the corporation is not a 'literary, benevolent, charitable or scientific institution' as those words are used in G.L. c. 59, § 5, Third, and relies on the case of Phi Beta Epsilon Corp. v. Boston, 182 Mass. 457, 65 N.E. 824, to support its position. In that case, the students were the active members of the corporation and received in return for their dues the use of a building for meetings, study, and living. Membership was not based on or limited to the needy students. We think the instant case is easily distinguishable. Here the corporation's members derive no material advantages from their membership. The corporation benefits only needy students and they are not members of the corporation. We have no doubt that to provide living quarters for needy persons is a charitable...
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