Woodstown Borough v. Friends Home at Woodstown

12 N.J. Tax 197
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedJanuary 24, 1992
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 12 N.J. Tax 197 (Woodstown Borough v. Friends Home at Woodstown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodstown Borough v. Friends Home at Woodstown, 12 N.J. Tax 197 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1992).

Opinion

LARIO, J.T.C.

At issue in both of these appeals, which have been consolidated for trial, is whether the subject land, and three buildings located thereon, are entitled to tax exemption.

The land consists of a single parcel totalling 4.6 acres. Legal title thereto was taken in the name of “Friends Boarding Home of Salem Quarterly Meeting,” a non-profit corporation, which subsequently changed its name to "Friends Home at Woods-town” (Friends Home). Located on the majority of the tract is a one-story building with several wings owned by Friends Home and operated by it as a long-term care facility.

Woods Court, also a non-profit corporation, was established in 1981 as a counterpart to, and is operated in conjunction with, Friends Home. Both organizations are sponsored by the Religious Society of Friends of the Salem Quarterly Meeting.

In 1981, Friends Home entered into a 99-year lease with Woods Court leasing to it a portion of the land at $1 a year. The lease does not specify the exact portion of the land leased, however, pretrial briefs of Friends Home and Woods Court allocated 2.93 acres to Friends Home and 1.67 acres to Woods Court. Woods Court constructed, on the leased portion, two residential buildings containing private rooms which it subleases to aged or infirmed persons.

The long-term care facility is listed on the borough’s tax map as Block 27, Lot 64 and is assessed to Friends Home. The land upon which the two residential buildings owned by Woods Court are located are identified for tax assessment purposes as Block 27, Lot 64.01. The improvements owned by Woods Court, consisting of the two residential dwellings, are assessed to Woods Court under Block 27, Lot 64.01, however, the land [200]*200upon which these two buildings are located is not separately assessed; instead, the full 4.6 acres has a single land assessment totally assigned to Lot 64 and billed solely to Friends Home.

For the year 1989, the borough assessed Lot 64 at land (which included the total 4.6 acres)—$35,100, improvements— $903,400, for a total of $938,500 which it billed to Friends Home. It assessed Lot 64.01 at Land $-0-, Improvements at $230,000, total—$230,000 which it billed to Woods Court. Both organizations appealed their respective assessments to the Salem County Board of Taxation. The board entered a judgment exempting the land and improvement assessments on Lot 64 (the total 4.6 acres and the long-term care facility owned by Friends Home) and affirmed the improvement assessment for Lot 64.01 (Woods Court’s residential buildings). As a result of the county board’s determination, although the improvements owned by Woods Court were deemed taxable, the land upon which those improvements are located was exempt. Woods Court appealed the denial of exemption for its improvements on Lot 64.01 and the Borough of Woodstown appealed the granting of an exemption to Friends Home for both its improvements and the total 4.6 acres assigned to Lot 64.

Friends Home claims it is entitled to tax exemption pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6, alleging it was organized exclusively for both charitable and hospital purposes and its building is operated exclusively for charitable and hospital purposes. Woods Court claims it qualifies for exemption from taxation also under N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6 because it is organized and used exclusively for charitable purposes. Woodstown concedes that both organizations are non-profit corporations but denies that the buildings are exclusively used for either hospital purposes or charitable purposes. It further contends that if Woods Court is not exempt, the lands apportioned to it may not be exempted. The pertinent portions of N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6 upon which the “hospital purposes” claim is based exempts from taxation:

... all buildings actually used in the work of associations and corporations organized exclusively for hospital purposes, provided that if any portion of a [201]*201building used for hospital purposes is leased to profit making organizations or otherwise used for purposes which are not themselves exempt from taxation, that portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining portion only shall be exempt.

Friends Boarding Home of Salem Quarterly Meeting was originally incorporated in 1887. Its articles of incorporation certify that its object was “to provide a residence for aged and infirmad Friends, and those in sympathy with Friends, where, at a moderate cost, they can have needful comforts.” When its name was changed in 1974, no amendment was made to its certified purposes.

Friends Home is governed by a 16-member board of trustees who serve without compensation. The corporation is licensed by the State of New Jersey to operate a long-term care facility pursuant to N.J.A.C. 8:39-1.1 et seq. It also has a second license issued by the Department of Health for its residential portion. Its facility is a large one-story building divided in two sections. One section, known as the residential care section, contains four separate wings having a total of 60 spaces for residents who do not need skilled nursing care. On the opposite side of the nursing home there are one- and a-half wings which contain space for 60 patients requiring skilled nursing care. This portion of the facility is known as the nursing care section.

The nursing care section is staffed by a medical director, a director of nursing, an assistant director of nursing, ten registered nurses, eight licensed practical nurses and 42 nurse’s aids. Twenty-four hour care is provided by the registered nurses or the licensed practical nurses.

Although all of the residents and patients in both sections require medical assistance and care, those in the residential portion require less intensive care than those in the nursing section. Those persons in the residential section are provided care by a staff consisting of a registered nurse certified in gerontology and four nurses aids who monitor their health and medical needs and aid in their daily living activities. The [202]*202nursing section’s director of nursing also supervises this nursing staff.

Patients are admitted to the nursing section only if they require it according to a written order of a licensed physician. They usually suffer from the following: diseases of the circulatory, nervous and respiratory systems, cardiac diseases, Alzheimer’s, strokes, brain injuries, diabetes and mental disorders. The care provided these patients includes bathing, assistance with dressing, oral hygiene, feeding, assistance with walking, incontinent care, medications and treatments. In addition, urinary catheter, tracheostomies and feeding tubes are administered and maintained, and respiratory therapy and other rehabilitative therapies are performed, including occupational therapy, physical therapy and social rehabilitation. Drawing of blood and other laboratory work is also conducted. There was no evidence introduced that this long-term facility has accepted or is equipped to receive patients requiring emergency treatment nor does it provide out-patient treatment, major surgical or obstetrical services and care.

There is no dispute that Friends Home owns the land supporting the nursing facility; therefore, to be determined is whether the corporation is organized exclusively for hospital purposes and whether the building is actually used for hospital purposes; a two-prong requirement.

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Bluebook (online)
12 N.J. Tax 197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodstown-borough-v-friends-home-at-woodstown-njtaxct-1992.