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October20,1972

Honorable Spencer Brown Opinion No. M- 1241 Kerr County Attorney Schrelner Bank Bulldln% Re: 7802 Whether exemption from Kerrvllle, Texas ad valorem taxes may be ,accorded'propertycarried on the tax rolls aa owned by The Church In the Hills, Inc., a defun.c,t,

non-profit Dear Mr. .Brown: corporation.
You have requested an opinionof this Office,on the above captioned question, and in so doing,have supplied us with the following pertinent facts. The Churc,hin the Hills, Inc. was ,charteredOctober 15, 1945. The purpose for which the corporationwas organized was the "support of any benevolent,charitable, educational or religious undertaking as authorizedby Subdivlslon 2 of,,Article 1302 of the Revised Civil Statutesof Texas of 1925

... , The charter further stated that "nopart of the earnings or assets of this corporation shall ever be &se % to carry on any ac-' tlvitles other than those stated in Su division 2 of Article 1302." On September 1, 1956, the chart,er of said corporation was forfeited because It had failed to file the refiortrequired by Article 9.01 of the TexasNon-Roflt Corporation Act. The following excerpt Is from a letter by the, Honorable John P. Hill submitted in supportof the clalm‘for exemption.

"This tract containingapproximately 82 acres was given to the fkurch In The Hills by E. J. 7 Nick es about 1946 or 1948,.My father, Dr. P. B. Hill, who was former Captaln & Chaplainof the Texas Rangers, Missionary to Korea and Pastor of the First Presbyterlan'church of San Antonio for 20 years. Durlng that 20 years he broadcasthis Sunday morning Service

-6076-Honorable Spencer Brown, page 2 (M-1241)

over W.0:A.I. in San Antonio. When he retired and moved to Hunt,Texas, he continuedhis broadcasts over W.O.A.I. under the nsme of The Church In The Hills. At his death, the broadcasts continued from his recordings for twomore years. "Iwas made Treasurerand later, President of the organization and secureddonations to It.
'"Insome cases,where someonewould make a substantial donation, I would allow them to hunt deer and turkey on the 82 acre tract.
"I leased the 16 ac. adjoining the 82 acres In question from the Hill CountryCowboy Camp Meeting Assoclatlon,~

which my father also organized some 33 years ago and which 16 acres Dad helped pick out, and purchas'ed. The CampMeeting 1,sstill golng on starting the first Sunday In August through the second Sunday In Augustand during those eight days the ranchmen's and visitors kidsrun all over the 82 acres having fun and recreation. "Thereare no salariesor expenses of any kind taken from the revenue or donations to the Church In The Hills. The proceedsgo toworthy students who are unable to pay the high college tuition of first class schools,,

Missionaries in various countries, struggling churches"

and the like. "InMarch or April, 1965,

... the charter was allowed to lapse or expireand The Church In The Hills continued to operate as an Association of the surviving members of the P.B. Hill family and several well qualified advisers (atno salary or expenses to anyone). A11 proceedsgoing to the Scholarships, Missionaries,Seminaries.
"It 1s my belief that theproperty In question should come under Art. 7150, Section 1, Schools & Churches as well as Section 2, Christian Associations, and 2a, Religious, Educationaland physical development associations."

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We quote the following excerpt from a letter written to you by the Tax Assessor-Collectorof Kerr County, Texas:

“Thepertinent facts thatwere presented to this office concerning the

...&opertg.are as follows:, (1) CommislonersCourt Order #11413 directed that a request for tax exemption be filed on each property requesting ad valorem tax, exemptions., Request filed on property in question by John P. Hill, Presidentof The Church of The’ Hills Inc. Exemption denied by Kerr County Tax Office. Ex!n~~~;;t~n;ed .because : apsed tid **original** not preaented to substantiateownership **or** (2) (3)

(4) 

# 11 ‘,56

The Tax Assessor-Collectorhas also advised us that the tax records show’The’ Church In The Hlllsl Inc. as owner of the property in question. The referenceto ‘owner”in the above quoted excerpt therefore refers to “John P. Hill, president of The Church In The Hills, Znc.“,a positionwhich he obviously cannot hold In what is now a defunct corporation.

I 1 puFpo8a of creation. b Land being‘leasedfor deer hu.nting. **C** Revenue receiveddistributed to churchgrbups according to owner* but no evidencepresented. (d) Owner’s reply to Application Question #12 was 81nvestmentt. Applicant ap$ealed to Ctiissionera Court under authoritygranted by Attorney General’s Oljln+on

&6g M-328. Exemptiondenied by Commissioners Court.~ Owner claims that Buthority to grant tax exemption lies in the power granted in the Texas Constitution,Article VIII, Section 2, Article 7150 (1, 2, & 2A VACS).”

We agree with the concluaion’ofthe Tax Assessor-Collector and the Commissioners’ Court that exemption should be denied In this **case,**

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Article VIII, Section 2 of the Texas Constitution1 provides the’constitutional authorlzatlonfor legislative exemption from taxation. The pertinent portion of that Article reads as follows:

“Sec. 2.

...the legislaturemay, by general laws, exempt from taxation .,.actualplaces or fifJ religious worship

... .’ Pursua!I

t to the above Constitutionalauthorization, the 60th Legislature amended Section 1 of Article 7150 by adding the following thereto:

t * l + l * l * “l(a) .The term ‘actualplaces of religious worship’,shall includeproperty owned by a church or by a strictly religious Institutionor organization; Including the personalproperty therein and the grounds attached to such buildings necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of same, used exclusively to support and serve the spread

1 Other Gonstltutional authorizationscontained In this Article, such as thatprovided for the exemption of “property used exclusively and reasonablynecessary In conducting any association engaged In promoting the religious, educational and physical development of boys, girls, youngmen or younn; women operating under a State or Nationalorganization of like character; also the endowment funds of such Institutions of learning and religion not used with a vlew,toprofit; and when the asme are Invested In bonds or mortgages, or in land or other property which has been,and shall hereafterbe bought In by such lnstitutlons under forecloeure salesmade to satisfy or protect such bonds or mortgages, that such exemption of such land and property shall continue only for two years after thepurchase of the same at such sale by such institutionsand no longer,

...' are clearly Inapplicable to the facts of the case under consideration, as are Sections 2 and 2a of Article 7150; enacted in pursuance thereto and equally relied upon by the taxpayer In the lnatant case. 2 Acts .Lg67,ch. 336, p. 802, 81.

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of a religious faith, and to effect accompanying filq religious, charitable,benevolent and educat onal purposesby the dissemination 

### of lnformatlon on,a religious faith through

### radio,television and similarmedia of communication. Such church,~rellglous'lnstltutlon,ororganization shall be, or shall be sponsoredby, a faith group, denotilnation

or associationof churches,which ordains ministers or. ele.cts

Christian Science Readers and establl,shes houses of worship completely dedicated to the propagation of the religlous faith of such faith groups, denominations or association of-churches." This seotlon~la valid Insofaras It Is within the Constltu lonal authorizations and llmltatlonsof ArticleVIII, Sectdon 2.3
It ia evident that the property described In your request la not within the plain terms 

### of the statute In that the property Is not owned by a church or a strictly rellglous lnstltutlon or organization. Furthermore, the exemption Eccorded real prope.rtybelonging to such InstitutionsIncludes

...personal property therein and the grounds attached to such buildlnR8 necessary for t-proper use and enjoyment of same ...". (hphasls ours.) Stated differently, the authorized of religious worship" extends only exemption for I'actual places' to the real property owned by a zhurch or reli+ous institution, a building" or house of worship' and, further, requires that of some kind be erected thereon. We thln~kthat this conclusion is'necessitatedby a long line of decisions either approved or written by our Supreme Court. It was held in Trinity Methodist EpiscopalChurch v. City 

### of San Antonio, 201 S W b6 (T C ~parsonad;e'was9note$e~~; A 1916 f ) t %er ei;h:~~~~~fo~s~~~~~lo~a~ authorlzatlon or the then statutory exemption

. . . houses

3 City 

### of Wichita Falls v. Cooper, 170 S.W.2d 777 (Tex.Clv. App. 1943 error ref )*Dlcklaonv. Woodmen of the World Life Insurance'Soc., 280 i.i.sd 315 (Tex.Clv.App.1955, error ref.); 4 Tex.Jur.2d 200, 201, ~64, and authorltlea cited therein.
(1914;. Article 7507, 4 Vernon's Saylea' Texas Civil Statutes

-6080-Honorable Spencer Brown, page 6 (M-1241)

used exclusively for publicworship, the books and furniture therein and the grounds attached to such buildings necessary for the proper occupancy, use and enjoyment of the same, and not leased or otherwise usedwith a view to profit.” We quote the following excerpt from pages 669, 670:

“The Constitutionprovides that all ‘t.axatlon shall be equal and uniform,’and that ‘allproperty In this states,

whether owned by naturalpersons or corporations, other thanmunicipal, shall be taxed In proportion to its value, which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law.I Const
.art. 8, Bl. To this provisiongeneral exceptions are made, under which the Legislaturemay exempt certain property specificallydescribed. Section 2. In conslderlng eXemptlone It is the rule that the law must be strictly construed and not enlarged,but confined to the very terms of the provision as to the exemption. Cooley, Taxation,p, 357. Following this rule the burden devolves upon any one seeking an exemption to bring himself clearlywithin the terms of the statute ‘orconstitutionalprovision, and further, should any reasonabledoubt as to the property being exempt arise, the doubtmust be resolved In favor of the government levying the tax. Morris v. Masons, 68 Tex. 698, 5 S.W. 519.

* + l + +

II . . .The Constitutionundoubtedly Intended in granting permission to the Legislatureto exempt houses used exclusivelyfor rellglous worship from taxation to grant permission to exempt the land on which the house Is built and other ground on which to enter and leave the church and ground Immediately surrounding thehouse which would be ‘groundsattached to such buildingsnecessary for the proper occupancy, use and,enjoyment of the same.” What would be necessary grounds would be a question of fact, but this would not render the statuteunconstitutional. The Constitutionwill not be so construed as to defeat its own purposes,whichwould be the case If only the ground actually coveredby the house used for

**-6081-**Honorable Spencer, Brown, page 7’ (M-1241)

religious worship was exempt. The construction must be reasonable andnot such as to defeat the very end deslred."5 Although Section 2 of ArticleVIII was subsequently amended in 1928 so ai to authorizelegislative exemption of "anyproperty owned by a church or by a strictly religious society for,the exclusive use as a dwellingplace for the ministry of such church or religious society, and which yields no revenue whatever to such church or religious society ...",6 the above quoted lnterpretatlon of the authorizationfor exemption of "actualplaces of rellglous~

worship" remains unchanged.7

SUMMARY Property carriedon the ad valorem tax rolls as owned by The Church In the Hills, Inc., a defunct, non-profit corporation,and having no actual place of religious worship thereon, Is not exempt from taxa~tioh

underArticle 7150(l)(a),V.A.T.S.

5 Later cases enunciatingthe general principles stated In the first quoted paragraphmay be found In 54 Tex.Jur.2d 200-206, Tsxatlon, 8864-65. 6 Implemented by the enactment of Article 7150b, V.A.T.S. The 1928 amendment has been construed ;y the Supreme Court as empowering the Legislature to determine

...who, and what activities shall constitute theministry of a church", rather than limiting the exemntlon to a dwellingolace for Its mlnlstrv owned and used by an lnblvldual church. McCreless v. City of Sak'Antonio, 454 S.W.2d 393 (Tex.Sup.1970). 7 54 Tex.Jur.2d 214-216,Taxation, 869.

-6082-Honorable Spencer Brown, page 8 (M-1241)

Prepared by Marietta McGregor Payne Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED: OPINION COmMITTEE
Kerns Taylor, .Chalrman W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman
James H. Broadhurst Bill Campbell Gerald Ivey Bob Davis
SAMTJELD. MCDANIEL Staff Legal Assistant
ALFRED WALKER Executive Assistant
NOLA WHITE First Assistant

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