Mayor of Baltimore v. Grand Lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons

Alvey, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The bill in this case was filed to obtain an injunction to restrain the collection of taxes from the appellee, upon the ground, principally, that the property upon which the taxes were assessed, has been exempted from taxation by law. The question arises upon a demurrer to the bill, and its determination depends upon the proper construction of a clause in the third section of the Act of 1880, ch. 122. The second section of the Act just referred to contains a designation of the various kinds of property liable to taxation, and concludes by declaring that “ all other property of every kind, nature and description, within this State, shall be valued to the respective owners thereof, in the manner prescribed by the laws of this State, and shall be assessed and taxed as the property of such respective owners, according to such prescribed methods of valuation, except as provided in the next ensuing section.” The next ensuing section of the Act contains an enumeration of the property that shall be exempt from taxation ; and, in that section, among other exemptions, it is declared, that the provisions of the second section of the- ²⁸² Act shall not apply “to the buildings, equipment and furniture of hospitals, asylums, charitable or benevolent institutions, or to the grounds appurtenant thereto, in any city or incorporated town in this State, which is necessary for the respective uses thereof.” This Act of 1880, ch. 122, repealed and re-enacted with amendments sections two and three of the Act of 18⁷⁸, ch. 413; and this last mentioned Act, therefore, can have no application to this •case.

Tt is conceded that the appellee is a benevolent institution, and that it is the owner of what is known as “ The Masonic Temple,” a building located in the City of Baltimore. It is only the upper portion of this building that is used by the appellee for the purposes of the lodge, and the lower portion has been constructed into store rooms and halls, and as such rented out and used, and the revenue derived therefrom has been received and applied to the purposes of the association. It is upon the capitalization of such rentals that the assessment in question has been made, and not upon the whole building itself; hut the rate of such capitalization does not appear. By the Act of 18⁷⁶, ch. 260, sec. 2, the buildings of charitable or benevolent institutions, so far as used for their corporate purposes, and the ground upon which such buildings stood, were exempt from taxation; and, under that exemption, and in respect to this same building, this Court held, in the case of The Appeal Tax Court against this same appellee, ( 50 Md., 421 ,) that to the extent of the rentals received the appellee was liable to taxation.

And we have not been able to perceive anything in the subsequent legislation to relieve the appellee from that liability. The right of taxation is never presumed to be relinquished; and before any party can rightfully claim an •exemption from the common burden, it is incumbent upon that party to show affirmatively that the exemption ²⁸³ claimed is authorized by law. If there be a real doubt upon the subject, that doubt must be resolved in favor of the State ; and it is only where the exemption is shown to be granted in terms clear and unequivocal that the right of exemption can be maintained. Here, the question turns upon what is contemplated by the statute in exempting the buildings of charitable or benevolent institutions.

Does it contemplate all the buildings belonging to such institutions, however used, or only such as may be actually used by them for their corporate or associated purposes ? If the latter, such buildings as may be devoted to other purposes must remain liable to assessment; and whether the buildings thus devoted to other purposes be separate and independent of the building devoted to the corporate purposes of the institution, or be inclosed within the same roof and walls of that building, can make no substantial difference. In either case, if there be an investment for revenue, independent of or beside the actual corporate use of the building, that investment is legally liable to assessment. In our opinion the statute only contemplates, in the exemption granted, such building