64 N.J.L. 116 | N.J. | 1899
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This certiorari brings up an assessment of taxes in the city of Paterson, for the year 1898. The taxes were assessed against the Paterson Rescue Mission on four lots on Mill street, at a valuation of $11,400, amounting to $280.44.
The Paterson Rescue Mission was incorporated April 2d, 1895, under the provisions of an act of the legislature, entitled “An act to incorporate benevolent and charitable associations,” and the several supplements thereto. Gen. Stat., p. 149 et seq. The act under which this incorporation was effected provides “ that the sole and exclusive objects of in-corporations under this act shall be to relieve or support such of the members thereof or such other persons as shall by sickness, casualty, old age or other causes be rendered incapable
That this institution is a charity within the designation of statuté 43 Elis., e. 4, in the comprehensive sense in which the terms “relief of aged, impotent and poor people” have been construed, is too clear to require discussion or elucidation. . The city seeks to justify the imposition of this tax by reason of the methods by which the charity is administered. The land on which the work of the institution is carried on was conveyed to the corporation by Sherman R. Merrill and wife, in 1895, for the nominal consideration of one dollar. There were no buildings on the land at the time of the conveyance. The building in this assessment is valued at $9,000; the building and furniture cost $14,000. The means to erect this building were obtained as follows: Dr. Merrill donated $4,000, about $1,000 was obtained by contributions from other persons, and a mortgage was placed on the property to the Paterson Safe Deposit and Trust Company for $10,000. The entire property of the corporation is used for its charitable work, and for no other purpose.
The institution is the only place in the city of Paterson offering an asylum for aged men, whose physical disabilities are such as to render them unfit for work, and is also an asylum for crippled, deformed and menially deficient persons unable to contribute to their own support. The methods by which this charitable scheme is carried out are these: The
Exemption from' taxation is claimed under the section of the general act concerning taxation, which exempts “all buildings used exclusively for charitable purposes, with the land whereon the same are erected and which may be necessary for the fair enjoyment thereof, and the furniture and personal property used therein.” Gen. Stat., pp. 3320, 3321. The city claims that the property of the prosecutor is not exempt under the statute, as it is not used exclusively for charitable purposes. The city’s claim of the right to impose this taxation is placed upon the fact that it is supported largely by the work of the persons that are fed and lodged at the institution in the profits realized from the sale of the kindling-wood manufactured. This contention is without substance. Where the objects and purposes of the institution are wholly charitable, with no element of private gain, the receipt of compensation from those who enjoy the benefits do not affect its charitable nature. 5 Am. & Eng. Encycl. L. (2d ed.) 897.
In Gooch v. Association for Relief of Aged Females, 109 Mass. 558, 567, the defendant was incorporated under an act to incorporate associations for the relief of aged indigent females. The funds with which the institution was conducted were derived from voluntary donations, and it had no capital stock or provision for making dividends or profits. The services of the managers were gratuitous. Its special object was to provide a home for aged indigent females, and its funds were to be appropriated to that purpose and incidental expenses. It had erected a house for the purpose, and the board of managers and their appropriate committees were to determine who -were fit subjects to receive this charity, what should be done to aid them, and on what terms and conditions and how long they should remain. The contention was that this was not, a charity, but that the association merely kept a boardinghouse. The court said: “ If this be so, it is still true that furnishing board, lodging and nursing to needy persons is
The principle which ruled in the decision of the cases above cited was applied by the Court of Errors and Appeals in a matter of taxation in Sisters of Charity v.
It is well known that in orphan asylums, hospitals and homes for the aged and infirm in this state compensation, not as an equivalent for the services rendered, is made by some of the inmates and beneficiaries. But that fact does not detract from the charitable quality of these institutions—the proceeds being applied to the same charitable purposes.
The other ground on which the legality of this assessment is sought to be justified is the payment of salaries to the superintendent and his assistant. The proof is that these persons give their whole time and services to the management of the institution, and compensation to them, like servants’ wages, are expenses incident to the execution of the charitable purpose for which the institution was established and is conducted. It also appears that in the mortgage made by th.e mission to the Paterson Safe Deposit and Trust Company, the mortgagor covenanted not to apply for any deduction, by reason of any mortgage, from the taxable value of the lands.
An association established and sustained by voluntary contributions from the charitable, whose object is to furnish food, lodging and clothing to the needy, requiring work in aid of the charity from those who are able to work, discouraging idleness and begging from door to door, with religious services for those who choose to attend, is pre-eminently a charity, and as such is exempt from taxation within the purview of the statute, upon the soundest principles of public policy.
The assessment should be set aside, with costs.