199 A.D. 268 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1921
Judgment unanimously affirmed, with costs, on the opinion of Whitmyer, J., at Special Term.
The.following is the opinion delivered at Special Term: Whitmyer, J.:
This is a proceeding to review the 1920 assessment of $20,000 upon relator’s real property, at the corner of Hawk and State streets, Schenectady, N. Y., solely upon the claim that the property is not assessable, under section 4, subdivision 7, of the Tax Law.
Now, it is well settled that statutes exempting property from general taxation must be strictly construed against the property owner and that exemption may not be presumed, if it- is not plainly expressed. (People ex rel. Young Men’s Assn. v. Sayles, 32 App. Div. 197, 201; afifd., 157 N. Y. 677.) Under this rule, which must be applied here, it seems clear that the section of the Benevolent Orders Law, under which relator was incorporated, and the section of the Tax Law, under which it claims exemption, contemplate a building to be used for lodge purposes, with an occasional use, perhaps, for other fraternal purposes, and not a building devoted to and used for the many and different purposes here shown. (People ex rel. New York Lodge No. 1 v. Purdy, 179 App. Div.
Amcl. by Laws of 1918, chap. 288.— [Rep. Amd. by Laws of 1910, chap. 145; since amd. by Laws of 1917, chap. 351.— [Rep.