North Alamo Water Supply Corp. v. Willacy County Appraisal District

769 S.W.2d 690, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 897, 1989 WL 34868
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 13, 1989
DocketNo. 13-88-145-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 769 S.W.2d 690 (North Alamo Water Supply Corp. v. Willacy County Appraisal District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
North Alamo Water Supply Corp. v. Willacy County Appraisal District, 769 S.W.2d 690, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 897, 1989 WL 34868 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

DORSEY, Justice.

Appellant, North Alamo Water Supply Corporation, filed a claim with appellees, Willacy County Appraisal District and Wil-lacy County Appraisal Review Board, seeking to exempt its property from ad valorem taxation for the tax year 1985 as a charitable organization pursuant to Tex.Tax Code Ann. § 11.18 (Vernon Supp.1988). Appel-lees denied the exemption. Appellant then filed suit for review of the denial. The trial court, sitting without a jury, rendered a judgment in favor of appellees, of which appellant now complains by seven points of error. We affirm.

Tex.Tax Code Ann. § 11.18(a) (Vernon Supp.1989) provides that an organization that qualifies as a “charitable organization” is entitled to an exemption from taxation of its buildings and tangible personal property. Subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) provide the specific requirements which must be met for qualification:

(d) A charitable organization must be organized exclusively to perform religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes and, except as permitted by Subsection (h) of this section, engage exclusively in performing one or more of the following charitable functions:
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(7) acquiring, storing, transporting, selling, or distributing water for public use;
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(e) A charitable organization must be operated in a way that does not result in [692]*692accrual of distributable profits, realization of private gain resulting from payment of compensation in excess of a reasonable allowance for salary or other compensation for services rendered, or realization of any other form of private gain and, if the organization performs one or more of the charitable functions specified by Subsection (d) of this section other than a function specified in Subdivision (1), (2), (8), (9), (12), or (16), be organized as a nonprofit corporation as defined by the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act.
(f) A charitable organization must, by charter, bylaw, or other regulation adopted by the organization to govern its affairs:
(1) pledge its assets for use in performing the organization’s charitable functions:
(2) direct that on discontinuance of the organization by dissolution or otherwise:
(A) the assets are to be transferred to this state or to an educational, religious, charitable, or other similar organization that is qualified as a charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; or
(B) if required for the organization to qualify as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(12), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the assets are to be transferred directly to the organization’s members, each of whom, by application for an acceptance of membership in the organization, has agreed to immediately transfer those assets to this state or to an educational, religious, charitable, or other similar organization that is qualified as a charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, as designed in the bylaws, charter, or regulation adopted by the organization.

Before the commencement of trial, the parties stipulated to the following facts: 1) appellant owns buildings and personal property within the boundaries of the Wil-lacy County Appraisal District; 2) the corporation is operated in a way that does not result in the accumulation of distributable profits or the realization of any form of private gain; and 3) appellant, by “providing” and “distributing” water to the residents of Willacy County, assumes to a material extent what would otherwise be a governmental or community obligation.

The evidence adduced at trial consists exclusively of the testimony of appellant’s manager, Walter Cross.

By its first and second points of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in failing to find that appellant is operated in a way that does not result in the realization of any form of private gain. Point of error five asserts that the court erred in failing to find that appellant is in the business of “delivering” water as set forth in section 11.18.

Each of the complained-of omitted findings relate to facts which were stipulated to by the parties.1 The trial court has no duty to find facts that are undisputed or admitted. Magee v. Westmoreland, 693 S.W.2d 612, 617 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1985, writ ref’d n.r.e.); Smith v. Brown Express, 343 S.W.2d 550, 553 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1961, writ ref’d n.r.e.). We overrule points one, two, and five.

Appellant asserts by his third point that the trial court erred in failing to enter appellant’s requested finding that while the bylaws of North Alamo do not contain a separate pledge of its assets in the statutory language” as set forth in section 11.-18(f)(1), “Article IV of the articles of incorporation of North Alamo states its purpose to be that of furnishing a water supply for general farm use and domestic purposes to individuals residing in the rural community of North Alamo, Texas, and surrounding rural areas.”

Appellant points out that the Articles of Incorporation were in evidence before the trial court and that they “established conclusively and as a matter of law” [693]*693the fact which appellant sought to be found. While this may be true, the statement in the articles that appellant “furnish[es] a water supply for general farm use and domestic purposes” does not amount to a charitable dedication of the corporation’s assets as contemplated by section 11.18(f)(1). The requested finding is not material to the controlling issue of whether appellant pledged its assets for performance of charitable functions. As a trial court need not make findings which are immaterial to the outcome of a case, we overrule point three. See Yates Ford, Inc. v. Benavides, 684 S.W.2d 736, 739 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1984, writ ref d n.r. e.); Texas Eastern Transmission Corp. v. Sealy Independent School District, 572 S.W.2d 49, 51 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1978, no writ).

Appellant contends by its fourth point that the trial court erred in its conclusion of law that “North Alamo is not a charitable organization acquiring, storing, transporting, selling or distributing water for public use within the meaning of section 11.18 of the Texas Property Tax Code” because the evidence establishes as a matter of law that appellant qualifies as a charitable organization.

When an appellant claims the court erred in a conclusion of law, attacking a finding on which he had the burden of proof, and maintains he has established the contrary as a matter of law, a two-part test is applied.

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Bluebook (online)
769 S.W.2d 690, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 897, 1989 WL 34868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/north-alamo-water-supply-corp-v-willacy-county-appraisal-district-texapp-1989.