Opinion ID: 2004530
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Factor Five

Text: Factor fivewhether the beneficiaries are restricted or unrestricted, N. Star Research Inst., 306 Minn. at 6, 236 N.W.2d at 757is also difficult to apply in this case. The only restriction that Croixdale imposes on the beneficiaries it serves is that they be aged persons in need of assistance, which is a restriction that has a reasonable relationship to its charitable objectives. Although some of our cases suggest that there is a subpart of factor five that requires that a charity lessen the burden of government, this subpart should not require the charity to show that it somehow directly reduces government expenditures. In North Star we articulated a much broader view of what is involved in lessening the burdens of government: It can be said with respect to activities that are traditionally charitable that ultimately people will benefit in an economic sense from the charitable undertaking. Persons relieved from poverty and illness and the restraints of old age demand less of, and contribute more to, the economic well-being of a community than do those who are not so relieved. 306 Minn. at 7, 236 N.W.2d at 757. Providing assistance to allow aged persons to maintain a better quality of life clearly meets these broader criteria. But even if narrower criteria were used, Croixdale did prove that its assisted living services directly reduce government expenditures. Croixdale provided testimony that if there were no assisted living facilities, the residents would need to be placed in nursing homes where they would require full medical assistance, at greatly increased costs to the government. Croixdale argued that keeping people in assisted living as long as possible and out of nursing homes directly reduces the costs of government. Accordingly, if Croixdale's financial information was made specific to its assisted living operations and presented the same relative results as the combined information, I would conclude that Croixdale satisfied factors three, five, and the reformulated factor four, with the result that Croixdale would be qualified as an institution of purely public charity. ANDERSON, G. BARRY, J., (concurring).