Wardens of St. Mark's Church v. Mayor of Brunswick
Wardens of St. Mark's Church v. Mayor of Brunswick
Opinion of the Court
It appears that this church is the owner of a lot of land in the city of Brunswick, upon which is a parsonage, in
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,
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