258 N.W. 1 | Minn. | 1934
The state constitution, art. 9, § 1, as far as here pertinent provides:
"The power of taxation shall never be surrendered, suspended or contracted away. Taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects, and shall be levied and collected for public purposes, but public burying grounds, public school houses, public hospitals, *125 academies, colleges, universities, and all seminaries of learning * * * shall be exempt from taxation * * *."
1 Mason Minn. St. 1927, § 1975, enacted pursuant to this constitutional provision, reads:
"All property described in this section to the extent herein limited shall be exempt from taxation, to-wit: * * *
"(4) All academies, colleges, and universities, and all seminaries of learning. * * *"
That defendant carries the word "college" in its name does not make it a college. But we cannot escape from the conclusion that defendant owns and conducts a seminary of learning within the meaning of the constitutional and statutory provisions above quoted which exempts the real property involved from taxation. In County of Hennepin v. Grace,
"It way well be questioned, however, whether, in specifically enunciating as the subject of exemption 'public school houses, academies, colleges, universities, and all seminaries of learning,' it was not intended to include in last named class all schools of an educational character not mentioned in the preceding part of the section. The word 'seminary' has no fixed legal meaning. Abbott's Law Dictionary, 'Seminary.' It is defined by Webster to be 'a place of training; institution of education; a school, academy, college or university, in which young persons are instructed in the several branches of learning which may qualify them for their future employments.' The origin of the word would seem to imply the place where the seeds of an education are sown and implanted. It is neither a strained nor unnatural construction to hold that it was used in the clause under consideration in its broadest sense, to denote any and every place of training or institution of learning not already specifically named."
So, though not within the designation of a public schoolhouse, the parochial schoolhouse and grounds were held exempt as a seminary *126
of learning. Chief Justice Gilfillan doubted that the parochial school came under the head of "public charities" under the exemption provision of the constitution and said [
"It is, within the meaning of that instrument, a 'seminary of learning,' and as such exempt from taxation."
In County of Ramsey v. Stryker,
"This statute, though not so carefully worded, must be construed in the light of the constitutional provision, and as intended to follow its directions. It includes 'all seminaries of learning' open for the instruction of the young and the dissemination of knowledge. It is not necessary, to entitle a school to such exemption, that it shall belong to or be a part of the general educational system provided by the state, any more than the colleges and academies within its bounds, founded and sustained by private patronage. The character, objects, and benefits of such an institution are public in their nature, and fall within the intent and purposes of the exemption contemplated by the constitution."
And it was held that the fact the tuition was charged and whether receipts therefrom might or might not exceed expenses was immaterial. With these two decisions in our reports, art. 9 of the constitution was amended in 1896 and 1906, rearranging and consolidating several sections in § 1, but no change whatever was made in the wording exempting educational institutions or schools from taxation. This would indicate acquiescence in the court's interpretation of the term "seminaries of learning" so as to include parochial schools and schools for girls owned and established by *127
an individual for profit. We see no good reason for excluding defendant's institution from claiming exemption as a seminary of learning. The fact that it specializes in a few branches of learning and offers fewer courses than other educational institutions cannot serve as a valid ground for subjecting its property, used exclusively in carrying on the school, to taxation. Further reasons for a construction exempting an educational institution from taxation and adherence to the two decisions cited are found in State v. Bishop Seabury Mission,
It is hardly profitable to discuss decisions from other states cited by the parties herein, for the constitutions and statutes differ materially in the several states upon the subject here involved. Defendant relies on Pitcher v. Miss Wolcott School Assn.
Plaintiff relies on Pomfret School v. Town of Pomfret,
There are institutions teaching various accomplishments and incorporating in the name such words as a college or academy, which are not to be classed with "seminaries of learning" or "colleges" or "academies" to which the constitution grants exemption from taxation. We have barber colleges, dancing academies, riding schools, and the like, which no one will claim to be exempt from taxation. In Lawrence Business College v. County of Douglas,
The order is reversed.