Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

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ik \ THE ATHB~&JEX GENERAL OF TE XAS McCreless v. Citv of San Antsnio AUSTIN, Tnzxan 78711 454-SW 2d 393 Texas Sup. Ct. 1970 April 9, 1968

The Honorable James E. Barlow Opinion No. M- 217 Criminal District Attorney Bexar County Courthouse Re: Tax status of residence San Antonio, Texas 78204 of Executive Director of San Antonio Council Dear Mr. Barlow: of Churches. We have 'beenfurnished the following facts in con- nection with your request for an official opinion from this office concerning the above referencedmatter. We quote from your letter and the letters of your assistants: "This is to request your official opinion on whether or not the residence of the Executive Director of the San Antonio Council of Churches is entitled to tax exemption, the ti.tleof which is in the name of the San Antonio Council of Churches. "The San Antonio Council of Churches is a Protestant organizationfor the co-: operative action of certain Protestant : Churches. It has as members units of the'~ Baptist Church, the Christian (Disciples'~. of Christ), EvangelicalUnited Brethren, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Methodist A.M.E., Presbyterian,United Church of Christ, and military chaplains at the local military bases. It has trustees,a board of directors,and is run by an Executive Director, C. Don Baugh, an ordained minister of the Disciples of Christ." "Rev. Baugh resides at 2334 Blanton which is in a residentialarea. The Council of Churches had this residence constructed as a parsonage and had it particularlyde- signed for their special uses. They have

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- c The Hon. James E. Barlow, pages2,(M- 217)

regular meetings in the parsonage includ- ing the Youth Council,,thefacultv'of the leadershipschool, committees of the YMCA, and other groups connected with the Coun- cil of Churches. "Rev. Baugh actively performs the duties of a minister, i.e. delivering ser- mons on an interdenominationalbasis at various churches Andybaptisms, marriage ceremonies and communion. Rev. Baugh,and his family are presently members of a local Episcopal church and he is a registered postulant (in the process of being ordained In the Episcopal Church.) The Disciples of Christ recognize dual ordination." We were also informed tha,trepresentatives, of member churches in 1943 organized the San Antonio Council of Churches, the purposes of which were as follows: "1. To proclaim, and, through practical demonstration,to bear witness to the essential unity of the Christian Church by the fellowship,, "''.cooperationand the combined effort,8and services, regardless of denominationalalignments, of Christian people in the San Antonio area. "2. To provide an interdenominational agency enlarging and extending the work of the Christian Church, impossibleof accomplishment by an individual church, in the fields of Evan- gelism, Christian Education, Social Relations, United Worship and Christian Fellowship,and com- munity religious welfare. "The Council shall be autonomous and not at any time affllla,te~d with or a member of any other church council. "The Council shall not concern itself with the dogma, practices or the governmentalstructure of its member churches. "The Council shall be a non-profit organi- zation. No member ~officer,committeemanor otherperson connected with'the Council, other than members of its employed staff, shall re- ceive any compensationwhatever for his or her

-1039-~The Hon. James E. Barlow, page 3 (M-217)

services.,The funds received.fromall sources shall be used exclus'ivelyIn carry- ing out the purposes and work of the Council." ' We were also informed that Reverend C. Don Baugh, the Bxecutive Director, serves as minister-at-largefor member churches of which there are presently 105; when the minister of a member church is out of the city or Is ill, he preaches for them, performs marriages, and buries their dead. The sub- ject property is an ordinary three-bedroom,dining,room, den, kitchen and patio, and the living room, den and patio "are at times used for official Council entertainmentfunctions. The Council specificallydesigned the house with official enter- tainment In mind, such as, the h~ousingof guest speakers"; other than an occasional wedding no religious services are held in the residence; the Council is financed 97% by member churches and 3$ by individualcontributions;the Council is incorporat- ed (December18, 1958) and has three full time employees and three part time employees, five of the six being ordained ministers; title to the residence is in the name of "The Coun- cil of Churches of Metropolitan San Antonio." Article VIII, Section 1 of the Constitutionof the State of Texas,providesfor equal and uniform taxes as follows: "Taxation shall be equal and uniform. All property in this state, whether owned by natural,personsor corporations,other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, which shall bt+;scertainedas may be provided by law. '. . . Article 7145, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides: "All property, real, personal or mixed, except such as may be hereinafter expressly exempted, is subject to taxation,and the same shall be rendered and listed as herein prescribed." ., Article VIII, Section 2 of the Texas Constitution,pro- vides that the legislature9 by general laws, exempt from taxation: II . . . any property owned by a church or by a strictly religious society for the

-1040-The Hon. James E. F?arlow,page 4 (M-217)

exclusive use as a dwelling place for the ministry of such church or religious society, and which yields no revenue whatever to such church or religious society; provided that such exemption shall not extend to more proper- ty than is reasonablynecessary for a dwelling, place and in no event more than one acre of land; . . .'I In 1961, pursuant to the above, the legislatureenacted ;;r+,;cle 7156b,-VkrnonlsCivil Statutes, which-providesas fol- : "There Is hereby exempted from taxation any property owned exclusivelyand in fee by a church for the exclusive use as a dwelling place for the ministry of such church, and which property yields no revenue whatever to such church; provided that such exemption shall not extend to more property than is reasonablyneces- sary for a dwelling place and in no event more than one~acre of land; and provided further that the fact that the ministry uses a portion of the dwelling as their study, library or office shall not prevent the property from being considered as being used exclusivelyas a dwelling place. For purposes of this Act, 'church' includes a strictly religious society; and 'ministryof such church' means these persons whose principal oc- cupation is that of serving in the clergy, minis- try, priesthood or presbytery of an organized church or religion, whether they are assigned to a local church parish, synagogue, cathedral or temple or some larger unit of the church organi- zation and whether they perform administrative functtionoor nOti” The rule of statutory constructionhas been stated as follows: "All statutes for the exemption of property from taxation are to be strictly construed against the exemption, and in favor of the state and taxa- tion. An exemption cannot be raised by implica- tion,~e;.~h~E-intel,tiBn,-,to relieve from the burden of taxationmust appear affirmatively. If there

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The Hon. James E..Barlow, 'page5 (M-217)

be anambiguity as'to what is exempt, it must operate,againstthe owners of the property and in favor of the public,,and all reasonable doubts as to the proper in- terpretationof a statute providing for exemptions from taxationmust be resolved in favor of the right to 'tax." Radio Bible Hour, Inc. v. Hurst-EulessIndependentDi - trict, 341 S.W.2d 4b'[(Tex.Civ.App.19b0,' error ref., n.r.e.). -Under Article 715Ob, if the primary use of a building is that of a residence for the minister of a church and his family, the mere fact that it is incidentallyused for other things, such as a study, office or library, will not prevent it from being'tax exempt. Hilltop Village; Inc. v. Kerrville IndependentSchool District.3 T S t 1 314 (lgbq . cf. also 15 A.L.R.2d lObt3,1069 (~~o~~t~on"?~?~. Under the' stated facts the subject property is used primarily as a resi- dence for Rev. Baugh. The next question presented is whether the~.Councilof Churches is a "church" or a Qtrictly religious society" as those terms are used in the statute. The statute defines "church" as including a "strictly religious society." The facts given us are to the effect that this Council is incor- porated under the laws of Texas, and its constitutionshows that its purpose is the spreading of the Christian faith. Therefore, we believe it comes within the statutory defini- tion of a "strictly religious society" and falls within the term, "church". The same statute states ".~. . 'ministryof such church' means these persons whose principal occupation is that of serving in the clergy, ministry priesthood~or presbytery of an organized church or religion, , . . whether they perform administrativefunctions or not." We believe Rev. Baugh, being an ordained minister who not pnly assists the clergy of member churches but also acts as'the administra- tive head of the Council (an organized church within the mean- ing of the statute), and serves as a minister-at-large,is a "minister"as that-term is defined in Article 7150b. Vol. 27, Words and Phrases, p. 413, defines "ministry"as the perform- ance of ecclesiasticalfunctions or duties, and is not restrict- ed in the sense of "clergy." Rector, etc. of St, George's Church in City of New York v. Mor , 152 N.Y.S. 497; accord, Black's Law Dictionary, Fourth Ed on.

-1042-The Hon. James E. BarlOW, Page 6 (M-P&7)

We therefore conclude that the residence of Rev. Bauah is exempt from the payment of ad valorem taxes in view of the facts furnished.

SUMMARY "' It is the opinion of this office, based on the facts furnished us, and limiting our opinion thereto, that the residence of the Executive Director of the San Antonio Council of Churches is exempt from ad valorem taxation under Article 7150b, TitleX22, Ch. 6, V.C.S.

eneral of Texas Prepared by Fisher At Tyler Assistant Attorney General ~.~.... APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Hawthorne Phillips, Chairman Kerns B. Taylor, Co-Chairman W. V. Geppert John Fainter R. D. Green Arthur Sandlin A,;J. CARUBBI, JR. Executive Assistant Attorney General

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