.:



### TEEATTORNEY~ 

## GENERAL

W’ILL WIJ23ON **AX-I-O- OlsNERAL**  September 19, 

### 1960

Allen Opinion No. WW-939

Re: Whetherproperty consisting ^. _. ^^. Honorable Bruce County Attorney Ellis County Waxahachie,Texas

Dear Mr. Allen: 

## OF TEXAS
AUSTIN IX. TEXAS

0s two lots, an osrice building, furniture, fixtures, and equipment belonging to the Herald of Healing is exempt from State and County taxes.
We quote the following from your letter requesting our opinionon the referenced subject:

"Ihave been informed that the charter of Herald:of Healing was flled~in the office,of the Secretary of State on February,20, 

### .1960, No.‘10883,and states Itspurpose as follows: "'The~purpose.forwhich the operation is formed is educational, charitable, missionary and evangelical in.its undertaking for the~bettermentof mankind. ,Wepropose,to.proclaim the Qospel.of Jesus Christ tomankind and to seek to convert those who have fallen in sin and to acquire by lease or purchase or otherwise, real-and/or ,personalproperty, for itsuse in this work.' "Thls~ charter also states that the corporation 'herebyassociate ourselves together voluntarily for the purpose of forming a private corporatlon,,not for profit, but for the purpose of benevolence in educational, charitable and missionary and evangelical work.'
"I smalso informed that this corporation is placed on the exempt ledger .ofthe Secretary of State. There:is no capital stock nor any shares in this corporation. "This corporation owns two lots In the City of Waxahachie upon which Is located an office building containing office furniture, fixturesHonorableBruce Allen, Page 2 OpinionNo. WW-939

and equipment. It ismy understanding that this buildingwas lusedas an office building by the late Reverend Jack Coe before his death. It dontalnedhis recording studio,private office,bedroom and bath upstairs. Downstairs,were the offices of the businessmanager, accountant, secretaries, typists, receptionists,automatic mailing machine, automatic addressographlng machine, rest rooms and snackbar. I am also informed that the Church,Dallas Revival Center, is located at 2127 South Corinth Road, Dallas, Texas. "The Herald of Healing is claiming the exemption under the provisions of Art. 

### 7150 Vernon's Civil Statutes because it says 'the Herald of Healing is a religious church organized under the~~religious and non-profit provisionsof the Texas Law and has been approved by the Federal Government as a tax exempt organization. All of the property as owned by the Herald of Healing is located ina building that has been used as office purposes of the church and is now being used as a storageplace. It is not rented and is non-revenue bearing..' "Please advise if this property is subject to State and County taxes." It is our opinion that the describedproperty is not entitled to exemptionfrom State and County taxes. Exemptions of property from taxationmust be explicitly provided by the Texas Constitutionor by statutoryprovision within Constitutional limits. Otherwise it is subject to taxationunder themandate of Art. 

### 8, Sec. 1 of the Constitution. See W. V. Geppert, A Discussion of Tax Exempt Property in the State of Texas, Baylor Law Rev. Vol. XI, 

### 133 (Spring, 

### 1959). Pursuant to the authority granted by Art. 

### 8, Sec. 2 of the Constitution, certain statutory exemptionswere provided religious societiesby Art. 

### 7150, sec. 1, R.C.S., as follows:

"The following property shall be exempt from taxation, to wit:. .

Honorable Bruce Allen, Page 

### 3 ; Opinion No. WW-939

"1.'
. . .actualplaces of religious worship, also any property, owned by a church or by a strictlyr@lgious society, for the exclusiveuse as a dwelling place for theministers of such!church or religious society,the books and furniture therein and the grounds attached to such buildings necessary for the proper occupancy, use and enjoymentof the same, and which 'yieldsno revenuewhatever to.such church or religious society;provided that such exemption as to the dwellingplace for the ministers shall~notextend tomore property than is reasonablynecessary for a dwelling place and in no eventmore than one acre of land."
Art. 7150b, R.C.S.-, providesas follows: "There is hereby exempted from taxation any propertyowned exclusively and in fee ~bya'church for the exclusive.use as a dwelling place for the.ministry of such churchand which property yields no revenue whatever to such church;provided that such exemption shallnot extend tomore property than is reasonablynecessary for a dwelling ~placeand in no event tomore than one acre of land. 

### 44 !41." Acts 1931, 42nd Leg., p. 

### 67, ch.
According to the facts stated in your letter, the property under discussion is not used as an actual place of religious worship.,~Thechurch, in fact, is located in another city. It is likewise apparent that the building certainly is not exclusively used as a dwelling place for the ministry of the church.
In Attorney General's OpinionNo. MS-190 it was held that a house and lot used for the printing and dissemination of religiousmatters was not entitled to exemption from taxation. That opinion quoted the following language from City of San Antonio v. Yo Men's Christian Assn., 

### 285 S.W. 844 (Tex.Civ.App.1926, ezref.):

"The Constitutiondoes not permit the exemption for 'furtheringreligious work,' but only to 'actualplaces of religious worship.'

. . .". .

HonorableBruce Allen, Page 4 OpinionNo. W-93

An application statutory language, the result that the taxation.

:

JRI:cm APPROVED: of the cited Constitutionalprovisions, and interpretationscan lead only to subjectproperty is not exempt from

SUMNARY
Property consistingof two lots and an office building containing furniture, fixtures>and ~equipment,belonging to the Herald.of Healing, is not entitled to exemption from State and County taxes. Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas

OPINION COMl4IT!CEE: W. V;~Geppert, Chairman Houghton'Brownlee :: James Farris Tom McFarling ElmerMcVey REVIEWEBFORTHE ATTORNEY'NZNERAL By: Leonard Passmore'