President, Etc., of Williams College v. Inhabitants of Town of Williamstown
| Decision Date | 23 October 1914 |
| Citation | 219 Mass. 46,106 N.E. 687 |
| Parties | PRESIDENT, ETC., OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE v. INHABITANTS OF TOWN OF WILLIAMSTOWN. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Oct 23, 1914.
Sanborn Gove Tenney, of Williamstown, and Bentley W. Warren, of Boston for petitioner.
Fred R. Shaw, of Adams, for respondents.
It is provided by St. 1909, c. 490, pt. 1, § 5, cl. 3, that the real estate of 'literary, benevolent, charitable and scientific institutions * * * owned and occupied by them * * * for the purposes for which they are incorporated' 'shall be exempted from taxation.' The question is whether thereby such real estate is exempted from the kind of taxation imposed for a fire district possessing the powers conferred by Pub. St. c. 35, §§ 40 to 61, now R. L. c. 32, §§ 49 to 70.
The exemption from taxation thus conferred has been decided to extend only to taxes imposed for the usual public purposes and not to include special assessments for particular benefits. A clear line of demarcation has been drawn in interpreting this exemption between the burden arising from the general tax levied to carry on the instrumentalities of government and a pecuniary imposition laid to reimburse the public treasury in whole or in part for the specific advantage arising from local improvement. Boston Seaman's Friend Society v. Boston, 116 Mass. 189, 17 Am. Rep. 153; Worcester Agricultural Society v. Worcester, 116 Mass. 189; Garden Cemetery Corp. v. Baker, 218 Mass. 339, 105 N.E. 1070.
A fire district is a territorial subdivision of the state, bounded and organized under the authority of the Legislature for the the governmental purpose of providing protection against fire within its limits, maintaining street lights and other subsidiary matters. Although composed of a part of one or more towns, it is in substance a quasi municipal corporation of definitely restricted powers. Prout v. Pittsfield Fire District, 154 Mass. 450, 28 N.E. 679. It may 'raise money by taxation' for its legitimate uses.
Protection from fires always has been treated as a general function of government. No common-law responsibility for the negligence of those in this branch of the public service attaches to the city or town by whom they are employed. No statute in express terms has authorized the assessment of any part of the expense of the establishment and maintenance of a fire department upon owners of buildings or any other class peculiarly benefited thereby. Fisher v. Boston, 104 Mass. 87, 6 Am. Rep. 196. The lighting of streets, although sometimes undertaken by cities and towns under circumstances which render them liable for the negligence of those employed for that purpose,...
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