Summary
In American Committee of Rabbinical College of Telshe, Inc., v. Board of Tax Appeals, 148 Ohio St. 654, 76 N.E.2d 719, this court had before it an application for tax exemption of this property for the year 1945.
Summary of this case from Am. Committee v. BoardOpinion
No. 31004
Decided December 23, 1947.
Taxation — Exemption — Public college, academy or public institution of learning — State or political subdivision to own or operate property — School for training in denominational tenets and doctrines, not exempt — Not public institution of learning or used exclusively for charitable purposes, when.
1. Property to be exempt from taxation as a public college or academy or as land connected with a public institution of learning must be, at the time exemption is sought, owned and operated for such purpose, without any view to profit, by the state or a political subdivision thereof, or, if privately owned, must be used exclusively for the benefit of the public as a public charity, without any view to profit.
2. A school which is organized and operated by a religious denomination for the sole purpose of training men in denominational tenets and doctrines and which provides no educational opportunities to the public generally is essentially a private institution, and a building housing such school is not exempt from taxation as being used for a public school or institution of learning or as property used exclusively for a charitable purpose. ( Bloch v. Board of Tax Appeals, 144 Ohio St. 414, approved and followed.)
APPEAL from the Board of Tax Appeals.
The appellant, American Committee of Rabbinical College of Telshe, Inc., on November 2, 1945, filed an application with the auditor of Cuyahoga county, requesting that certain premises, including a four-story building located on a lot 100 feet by 140 feet and known as 706-718 East One Hundred Fifth street, Cleveland, title to which is in appellant's name, be exempted from taxation for the year 1945.
The application was made under Section 5349, General Code, on the ground that the property was a public college or academy or public institution of learning not used with a view to profit. The institution is used as a seminary for the training of students in Jewish religious and secular subjects. The course of study is definitely a rabbinic course, teaching rabbinic subjects to its students, and is open to any one interested without discrimination. On the first floor of the building are school rooms and administrative offices; on the second and third floors are lecture halls and dormitories; and on the fourth floor are dormitories only.
The corporation's charter purposes are to maintain an orthodox Jewish theological seminary, to educate individuals spiritually and religiously, to maintain religious services according to orthodox Jewish rituals, and to maintain dormitories, living and sleeping quarters for students, teachers, and professors, as the trustees see fit.
Meals are provided for the student body and certain members of the faculty. One member of the faculty occupies a suite in the building but pays no rent. No public religious services are held in the building. There are approximately 100 students in attendance at this school. The school is supported by contributions, and some students, but not all, pay tuition.
Mr. Gabriel Leeb, for appellant.
Mr. Hugh S. Jenkins, attorney general, and Mr. Daronne R. Tate, for appellees.
The application for exemption from taxation of the property in question was based on the provisions of Section 5349, General Code, exempting certain public colleges, academies and lands connected with public institutions of learning. Property to be exempt from taxation as a public college or academy or as land connected with a public institution of learning must be, at the time exemption is sought, owned and operated for such purpose, without any view to profit, by the state or a political subdivision thereof, or, if privately owned, must be used exclusively for the benefit of the public as a public charity, without any view to profit. Gerke, Treas., v. Purcell, 25 Ohio St. 229, 242, 246; Ursuline Academy of Cleveland v. Board of Tax Appeals, 141 Ohio St. 563, 49 N.E.2d 674; College Preparatory School for Girls v. Evatt, Tax Commr., 144 Ohio St. 408, 59 N.E.2d 142. The institution here seeking to have its property exempted from taxation does not qualify under either category. Bloch v. Board of Tax Appeals, 144 Ohio St. 414, 59 N.E.2d 145.
However, the Board of Tax Appeals did not confine its consideration of the exemptibility of this property to the application as filed under Section 5349, General Code, but considered the application as though filed under Section 5353, General Code, exempting property used exclusively for charitable purposes, and held that the factual situation did not warrant exemption on that ground. This court cannot say that the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals as to the facts or as to the conclusions drawn therefrom was unreasonable or unlawful. Notwithstanding the claim that the school is open to the public generally, the evidence strongly supports the position that the institution occupying this property is a private denominational school.
In the case of Bloch v. Board of Tax Appeals, supra, this court held that a school organized and operated by a religious denomination for the sole purpose of training men to assume ministerial positions in such denomination and which provides no educational opportunities to the public generally is essentially a private institution, and that a building housing such a school is not exempt from taxation as being a public school or public institution of learning, or property used exclusively for a charitable purpose. The property here sought to be exempted from taxation does not qualify as being used exclusively for a charitable purpose.
The decision of the Board of Tax Appeals is affirmed.
Decision affirmed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., TURNER, MATTHIAS, ZIMMERMAN, SOHNGEN and STEWART, JJ., concur.