Court Opinion

ID: 9571583
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:32:56.941978+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:30:39.742991
License: Public Domain

HODGES, Justice
(dissenting).
Our constitution exempts only that property “used exclusively for religious and charitable purposes.” The property sought to be exempt in the present case is a private dwelling residence. Any use of the home for religious purposes as set out in the stipulation is only incidental to the primary purpose for which it has been dedicated. Often times the parsonage is purposely located some distance away from the church premises in order to protect the privacy of the pastor and his family from his official church duties.
A parsonage is a home of the pastor as any other private residence. In my opinion this is not an exclusive use of property for religious purposes within the contemplation of Article 10, Section 6 of the *761Oklahoma Constitution. Its primary use is purely nonsectarian.
Exemptions from taxation are not favored in judicial interpretations and are always strictly construed. No exemption should be allowed unless it is clearly expressed and any ambiguity in a constitutional provision or statute should necessarily be resolved in denying an exemption. Oklahoma County v. Queen City Lodge No. 197, I.O.O.F., 195 Okl. 131, 156 P.2d 340.
From the cases cited by R. L. Williams in his book published in 1912, The Constitution and Enabling Act of the State of Oklahoma and the cases cited in Cooley on Taxation, 3rd Ed. at page 352, footnote 1, which was considered the leading authority on taxation in 1907, the prevailing view in other states at the time our constitution was adopted appears to be that a dwelling house owned by a church and used by its pastor as a residence is not exempt from taxation unless the exemption is clearly expressed.
Our constitutional provision does not expressly exempt parsonages and in my opinion this creates an ambiguity which should be resolved in denying the exemption.
I respectfully dissent.