189 Ind. 369 | Ind. | 1920
This is an action in mandate brought by relator, a taxpayer of Putnam county, Indiana, against appellees, auditor of said county, and the DePauw Phi Kappa Psi Home, to require said auditor to place the property of said home on the tax duplicate for taxation. The trial court sustained a demurrer to the complaint,- relator refused to plead further, and judgment was rendered against him for costs.
Article 10, §1, of the state Constitution requires that the general assembly ‘ ‘ shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property * * * excepting such only for # * educational, literary, * * * purposes, as may be specially exempted by law.”
The complaint shows that the DePauw Phi Kappa Psi Home, an Indiana corporation, owns the real estate on which a two-story brick building is located, underneath which is a basement for coal and furnace; that the first floor of the building has parlors, library, dining room and kitchen; that the second floor has five bedrooms and bath; that the building is used exclusively by the Indiana Alpha' chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity; that the members of this fraternity pay dues sufficient to cover the expenses of cooking and serving their meals; that some of them occupy the bedrooms on the second floor; that is to say, they board and lodge in this building.
The complaint also shows that they pursue in this building the course of study prescribed by DePauw University; that they are subject to the rules and reg
The complaint shows that the property has not been put upon the tax duplicate for taxation during any of the years from 1904 to 1914. It also shows that the relator requested the auditor to place it upon the tax duplicate, and that he refused.
Cases from other states are cited by relator, particularly Maine and Massachusetts. These cases have no application here, because they are decided under a different set of facts and under a different statute; nor does relator make us cognizant of the constitutional limitations in those states; nor do the opinions disclose what such limitations are.
Judgment of the trial court is affirmed.