Wardens of St. Mark's Church v. Mayor of Brunswick

Supreme Court of Georgia
Wardens of St. Mark's Church v. Mayor of Brunswick, 78 Ga. 541 (Ga. 1887)
3 S.E. 561
Blandford

Wardens of St. Mark's Church v. Mayor of Brunswick

Opinion of the Court

Blandford, Justice.

It appears that this church is the owner of a lot of land in the city of Brunswick, upon which is a parsonage, in *542which the rector of the church resides. The city laid down a pavement upon a street running along this lot, and demanded payment therefor from the church. This was refused. The city then issued an execution against this property along which the pavement was laid; and the bill in this case was brought by the wardens and vestrymen of the church to enjoin the collection of that execution. The chancellor refused the injunction; and that is the complaint here.

The’ property which belongs to a church is not exempt from taxation simply because it belongs to a church. This property is liable to taxation; indeed, the legislature has no power to exempt it from taxation; and any law passed by the legislature to exempt property belonging to a church or anybody else from taxation, is simply void, under the constitution of this State, except so far as set out in article vii, section i, paragraph i of the constitution, where it is declared that, “ The General Assembly may, by law, exempt from taxation all public property, places of religious worship or burial; all institutions of purely public charity; all buildings erected for and used as a college, incorporated academy, or other seminary of learning; the real and personal estate of any public library, and that of any other literary association used by or connected with such library; all books and philosophical apparatus; and all paintings and statuary of any company or association, kept in a public hall, and not held as merchandise or for purposes of sale or gain; provided, the property so exempted be not used for purposes of private or- corporate profit or income.” The 4th paragraph declares that, “ All laws exempting property from taxation, other than the property herein enumerated, shall be void.”

It is very manifest that land upon which is a parsonage, although it may belong to a church, is not a place of public worship. The language of the constitution is that the legislature may exempt “ places of religious worship ” from taxation; but the legislature cannot exempt a parsonage, *543it not being a place of public worship.' We think, therefore, that the mayor and council of the city of Brunswick had a right to assess against this property the value of the improvements which the city had laid down along and across the property; and that the chancellor did right to refuse the injunction prayed for.

The decree of the chancellor is affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
The Wardens, etc. of St. Mark's Church v. The Mayor, etc. of Brunswick
Cited By
8 cases
Status
Published