Camp v. Fulton County Medical Society
Camp v. Fulton County Medical Society
Opinion of the Court
Fulton County Medical Society, a corporation chartered by the Superior Court of Fulton County, brought a petition for injunction against the Tax Commissioner of Fulton County and others, asserting that the property owned by the petitioner, located in the City of Atlanta, and known as “The Academy of' Medicine,” is exempt from taxation under Code § 92-201, as amended. The defendants filed an answer denying that the property of the petitioner has been used exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, and denying that the property is exempt from taxation. The case was heard by the trial judge upon the motion of the petitioner for summary judgment. Judgment was entered for the petitioner, to which the defendants except.
The evidence before the trial judge on the motion for summary judgment was the affidavit of Dr. Major F. Fowler, a member of the petitioner since 1925, which was attached to the motion for summary judgment, and the deposition of Dr. Thomas Jefferson Anderson, Jr., formerly Secretary-Treasurer, and at the time of the deposition, President-elect of the petitioner.
From an examination of the charter of the petitioner, as amended, attached to the petition, and the evidence submitted by the petitioner, it appears: The petitioner does not have any capital stock, and the funds for its operation are obtained from dues contributed by the members. There are approximately 1,000 members, and the petitioner has the right to judge the qualifications of its applicants for membership. Every reputable and legally qualified physician of Fulton or an adjoining county who has been graduated from an acceptable medical college and who conforms to the Principles of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association is eligible for membership, subject to classifications in the byla-vys. None of the officers of the petitioner receive any compensation for work done for the petitioner. There are four full-time employees, not members of the petitioner, working in the building owned by the petitioner, three secretaries and a janitor. The secretaries keep the accounts of the business of the Academy and the petitioner, answer telephone inquiries by persons desiring to obtain a physician, publish a monthly bulletin of the petitioner, and process
It is the contention of the petitioner that its property is exempt from taxation under the following provision of Code Ann. § 92-201: “The following described property shall be exempt from taxation, to wit: ... all institutions of purely public
charity; ... all buildings erected for and used as a college, nonprofit hospital, incorporated academy or other seminaiy of learning, . . .”
The defendants filed their objection to the motion for summary judgment, in which they denied that the property of the defendant is devoted to any uses which would cause it to be exempt from taxation, but they presented no evidence in oppo
The petitioner is not operating a college, incorporated academy, or other seminary of learning within the meaning of that portion of Code Ann. § 92-201 exempting from taxation “all buildings erected for and used as a college . . . incorporated academy or other seminary of learning, . .
3. “It is the use to which the property is put, rather than the declaration of purpose found in its owner’s charter, that determines the question of exemption from taxation.” Mu Beta Chapter Chi Omega House Corp. v. Davison, 192 Ga. 124, 126 (14 SE2d 744); Georgia Osteopathic Hospital, Inc. v. Alford, 217 Ga. 663 (124 SE2d 402).
In City of Waycross v. Waycross Savings & Trust Co., 146 Ga. 68 (4) (90 SE 382), it is indicated that the term “charity” used in the tax exemption statute is to be construed “in its broad sense.” In Tharpe v. Central Ga. Council of Boy Scouts of America, 185 Ga. 810, 813 (196 SE 762, 116 ALE. 373), the meaning of the term was held to include “substantially any scheme or effort to better the condition of society or any considerable part of it.”
However, in order to authorize its exemption from taxation an institution must be one of “purely public charity.” Code Ann. § 92-201. The fact that an institution serves a benevolent purpose does not necessarily make it a "purely public charity.” United Hospitals Service Assn. v. Fulton County, 216 Ga. 30, 33 (114 SE2d 524). No matter how high the ideals of an institution, nor how lofty its purposes, in order for it to qualify as a charitable institution for tax exemption under Code Ann. § 92-201, it must have the sole purpose and activity of dispensing public charity.
Counsel for the petitioner cite and strongly rely on Dulles v. Johnson, 273 F2d 362. That case deals with bequests which are deductible in the calculation of Federal estate taxes. The
An examination of the evidence considered by the trial judge on the motion for summary judgment shows that the petitioner is organized for laudable purposes, and its building is used by some organizations which would classify as charitable organizations, but it can not be overlooked that one of the purposes of the petitioner is the advancement of the medical profession. It is true that the advancement of the knowledge and skill of the medical profession will inure to the benefit of the public served by the profession, but such advancement will also benefit the members of the petitioner. It therefore can not be said that the building of the petitioner is used for “purely public charity,” C&de Ann. § 92-201, and the trial judge erred in granting the summary judgment in favor of the petitioner.
Judgment reversed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. Division 3 of the opinion represents the views of the majority of the court, in which the writer does not concur.
Under the evidence, the building of the petitioner is not used “for the purpose of ... corporate profit and income distributable to shareholders, . . .” Code Ann. § 92-201. The petitioner is not operating a business in competition with other businesses not enjoying tax exemption, as was true in United Hospitals Service Assn. v. Fulton County, 216 Ga. 30, supra.
Under the definition of the term “charity” approved by this court in Thorpe v. Central Ga. Council of Boy Scouts of America, 185 Ga. 810, supra, as “substantially any scheme or effort to better the condition of society or any considerable part of it,” and the indication in City of Waycross v. Waycross Savings & Trust Co., 146 Ga. 68, supra, that the term “charity” is to be construed “in its broad sense,” it is my opinion that the building of the petitioner is shown by the evidence to be used for purely public charity. I therefore dissent from Division 3 of the opinion and the judgment of reversal.
I am authorized to say’ that Mr. Justice Quillian concurs in this dissent.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CAMP, Tax Commissioner, Et Al. v. FULTON COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
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- 18 cases
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- Published