Moraine Heights Baptist Church v. Kinney

465 N.E.2d 1281, 12 Ohio St. 3d 134, 12 Ohio B. 174, 1984 Ohio LEXIS 1185
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 18, 1984
DocketNo. 83-1591
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 465 N.E.2d 1281 (Moraine Heights Baptist Church v. Kinney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moraine Heights Baptist Church v. Kinney, 465 N.E.2d 1281, 12 Ohio St. 3d 134, 12 Ohio B. 174, 1984 Ohio LEXIS 1185 (Ohio 1984).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

The issue before this court is whether appellant’s entire church camp qualifies for a tax exemption within the purview of R.C. 5709.07.

R.C. 5709.07 provides, in pertinent part:

“* * * [H]ouses used exclusively for public worship, the books and furniture therein, and the ground attached to such buildings necessary for the proper occupancy, use, and enjoyment thereof, and not leased or otherwise used with a view to profit, * * * shall be exempt from taxation.”

The phrase “used exclusively for public worship” has been construed by this court to be equivalent to “primary use.” Accordingly, an exemption is allowable under R.C. 5709.07 if the property is used primarily for purposes of public worship. In re Bond Hill-Roselawn Hebrew School (1949), 151 Ohio St. 70, 77-78 [38 O.O. 527]; Bishop v. Kinney (1982), 2 Ohio St. 3d 52, 53; Summit United Methodist Church v. Kinney (1983), 7 Ohio St. 3d 13.

Thus, in Bond Hill, supra, this court reviewed a decision of the board denying an exemption to a Hebrew school due to the fact that a caretaker and his family were permitted to live in three rooms located above the first floor of the building. In reversing the board’s decision, it was stated:

“There are many activities conducted in church buildings which do not constitute public worship but which are designed to encourage people to use the church for public worship. The use of a room in the church to entertain young children while their parents attend church services is not a use for public worship. The use of the church building for meetings of boy scouts is not a use for public worship. The use of part of the building for the preparation of food for a church supper and the eating of such food are not uses for public worship. Certainly it was not the intention of the people that their words, ‘used exclusively for public worship,’ should be so literally construed that any such uses would prevent tax exemption of a church building.” Id. at 72-73.

[136]*136The rationale employed in Bond Hill was recently relied upon in Bishop, supra, wherein the board denied a tax exemption for a parish hall used primarily for religious purposes, but also used for social gatherings. Again, this court reversed, concluding that the primary use of the building must control, and since the parish hall was primarily used for public worship, the incidental activities taking place therein did not defeat the exemption.

More recently, in Summit United Methodist Church, supra, we reviewed a decision of the board denying a tax exemption under R.C. 5709.07 to the educational wing of a parish center. This portion of the building was used on Sundays by the taxpayer for Sunday school classes; however, on weekdays the facility was leased to and used by the Ohio State University as a day care center for the children of faculty, staff and students. In sustaining the denial of the exemption, we concluded there was “* * * sufficient evidence in the record to support the board’s finding that * * * [the taxpayer’s] uses of the property were not primarily religious in nature.” Id. at 15.

Appellant maintains that the board disregarded the “primary use” test in favor of an “exclusive use” test when denying an exemption for the entire church camp. Stated otherwise, appellant argues that the board has taken an unreasonably strict view of the term “public worship” as utilized within R.C. 5709.07.

The board reasoned that the land and buildings adjacent to the chapel are used primarily for housing and recreational activities. While this conclusion is well-supported by the record, appellant contends that although recreational activities are conducted to entertain the youth attending the camp, the primary use of the camp and its facilities is to create an atmosphere conducive to the worship of God. Appellant further contends that the camp-like environment promotes a better atmosphere to instill Christian principles.

Initially, we note that “[i]n reviewing decisions of the board, this court has repeatedly stated that it is not a trier of fact de novo, but that it is confined to its statutorily delineated duties (R.C. 5717.04), of determining whether the board’s decision is ‘reasonable and lawful.’ ” Episcopal Parish v. Kinney (1979), 58 Ohio St. 2d 199, at 201 [12 O.O.3d 197]. See, also, Summit United Methodist Church, supra, at 15. Appellant’s argument, essentially, constitutes a request that this court reweigh the evidence in violation of the aforementioned principle.

The record demonstrates that of the forty-nine acres sought to be exempted, only the chapel is used primarily for public worship, and it has been exempted from taxation. The balance of the land, including the lodging facilities, swimming pool, cafeteria, as well as the recreational and nature areas, are, at best, merely supportive of appellant’s goal to promote worship.

In fact, the boys’ and girls’ lodging sought to be exempted, as well as the cafeteria and shower facilities, are functionally equivalent to the parsonages previously denied exemptions in a prior line of cases by this court. See, e.g., Gerke v. Purcell (1874), 25 Ohio St. 229; Watterson v. Halliday (1907), 77 Ohio St. 150; Society of the Precious Blood v. Bd. of Tax Appeals (1948), 149 [137]*137Ohio St. 62 [36 O.O. 403]; New Haven Church of Missionary Baptist v. Bd. of Tax Appeals (1967), 9 Ohio St. 2d 53 [38 O.O.2d 129].

In Gerke v. Purcell, supra, an exemption was denied for a parsonage which had been built on ground which otherwise may have been tax exempt. The rationale employed by the court, which is particularly applicable to the present cause, was as follows: “The exemption [now R.C. 5709.07] is not of such houses as may be used for the support of public worship, but of houses used exclusively as places of public worship.” (Emphasis deleted.) Id. at paragraph ten of the syllabus. The cafeteria, lodging structures, shower and restroom facility and the shelter house sought to be exempted herein are also merely supportive of appellant’s overall goal to promote worship; they are, however, as evinced from the record, primarily used for purposes of serving food, or as places to shower or sleep, and not as places of public worship. As such, the board acted neither unreasonably nor unlawfully in denying a tax exemption for these facilities under R.C. 5709.07.

Furthermore, the record fully supports the board’s denial of an exemption for appellant’s outdoor facilities, including the swimming pool, basketball and shuffleboard courts, as well as the remaining unimproved areas of the church camp. Although appellant contends those areas are vital to the camp for the purpose of entertaining youth in an atmosphere in which worship is the primary goal, nevertheless, this portion of the church camp does not qualify for an exemption under R.C. 5709.07.

Unlike the exemption under R.C. 5709.12, which exempts all institutional land and buildings used exclusively for charitable purposes, the exemption contained under R.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
465 N.E.2d 1281, 12 Ohio St. 3d 134, 12 Ohio B. 174, 1984 Ohio LEXIS 1185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moraine-heights-baptist-church-v-kinney-ohio-1984.