Court Opinion

ID: 9522745
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:31:58.563986+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:03:49.876507
License: Public Domain

Crawford, Supr. J.,
¶ 17. Specially Assigned, dissenting. I dissent from the majority opinion because in excluding from tax-exempt status any arts organization which makes use of an open competition to select participants in its programs, the majority unduly restricts the statutory exemption for “[r]eal and personal estate . . . used for public, pious or charitable uses.” 32 V.S.A. §3802(4).
¶ 18. The substance of the statutory exemption has developed exclusively through case law. The legislative language tells us almost nothing about what constitutes a “public use” except that *232lands used for purposes such as schools and libraries are specified as tax-exempt. In the case of real estate used for other public purposes, it has fallen to this Court to give shape and definition to the exemption.
¶ 19. Two cases show the way. In American Museum of Fly Fishing, Inc. v. Town of Manchester, 151 Vt. 103, 557 A.2d 900 (1989), the Court rejected prior decisions which equated public use with the fulfillment of essential governmental functions. The Court substituted a more inclusive three-part test, including the requirement that “the primary use must directly benefit an indefinite class of persons who are part of the public, and must also confer a benefit on society as a result of the benefit conferred on the persons directly served.” Id. at 110, 557 A.2d at 904. A museum devoted to the history of fly fishing would be unlikely to fulfill any essential governmental function, but it could benefit the group of people interested in the sport and, by educating and informing that relatively small group, it could be said to benefit the public as a whole.4
¶ 20. In Sigler Foundation v. Town of Norwich, 174 Vt. 129, 807 A.2d 442 (2002), the Court refined its definition of an “indefinite class of persons.” The Sigler Foundation operated a five-acre model dairy farm (the “Dream and Do Farm”), which was open for school field trips and dairy researchers as well as to members of the public. The decision holds that whether the class of persons served is “indefinite” depends upon the type of choice or selection made by the organization to determine who benefits from its activities. Id. at 134, 807 A.2d at 447. The capacity of any nonprofit organization is finite and its mission is defined — typically quite narrowly — to provide benefits to groups such as fly-fishing enthusiasts or people with an interest in dairy farms. The choice the beneficiaries make in attending is irrelevant. The quality of “indefiniteness” depends upon the process by which the organization limits its services to a subgroup of the general population.
¶ 21. The majority opinion excludes from tax-exempt status any organization which uses a juried or merit-based selection process *233in defining its beneficiaries. Whether the selection process is fair or open to all is of no consequence. The very existence of a “screening process” is said to be the “hallmark” of a disqualifying private use. Ante, ¶ 12. Unless the premises are “open to all” and “turn no one away,” they cannot be said to serve an indefinite class.
¶ 22. This definition defines “public use” too restrictively and contributes in its small way to the “dumbing down” of artistic culture. Consider the case at hand. Tax-exempt status would be assured, apparently, if the artistic residencies were awarded by lottery or on a first-come basis. The beginner and the accomplished artist would be equally welcome. No one would be turned away — except perhaps by the fire marshal. This is a reasonable admissions policy for a museum or an exhibition dairy farm. It is less promising for an arts organization whose beneficiaries must demonstrate a measure of competence if their residency is to have value for them or for the public.
¶ 23. This is not a case like Trustees of Vermont Wild Land Foundation v. Town of Pittsford, 137 Vt 439, 407 A.2d 174 (1979), in which the criteria for admission were suspect. In this case, the selection process is open to all and is described by both sides as fair and unbiased. Some 600 artists and writers attend annually out of 2,000 applicants.
¶24. Nor is this a “closed circle” case in which only members of the Boy Scouts or the Peace Corps are eligible to make use of the property. See Fort Orange Council, Inc. v. French, 119 Vt. 378, 125 A.2d 835 (1956); Experiment in Int’l Living, Inc. v. Town of Brattleboro, 127 Vt. 41, 238 A.2d 782 (1968), overruled on other grounds by American Museum of Fly Fishing, 151 Vt. 103, 557 A.2d 900. Despite an unsupported assertion by the trial court that “artists” form a defined class, artists as a group are both numerous and varied.5 Artists can hardly be said to form a “closed circle” or a limited class of people.
¶25. Finally, this is not a case in which existing legislative language can be “strictly construed.” The substantive law of what *234constitutes a public use derives entirely from decisional law. The statute itself is silent about what constitutes a public use. In his dissent in American Museum of Fly Fishing, Justice Peck criticized the three-part test as “out-of-the-hat, unsupported guesswork.” 151 Vt. at 112, 557 A.2d at 905 (Peck, J., dissenting). To be fair, the development of the three-part test represents not so much “guesswork” as it does deliberate policy-making through case law. In the absence of new legislation, the judiciary remains responsible for refining its own test incrementally and in directions which avoid imperfect or anomalous outcomes.
¶26. A reasonable definition of “indefinite class of persons” should not exclude groups whose activities require training, practice, and technical accomplishment. “Public use” does not have to be limited to activities such as museum-going which anyone can do without preparation. Nothing in 32 V.S.A. § 3802 suggests that the term is so limited. The inclusion of private schools and colleges in other provisions of § 3802 is evidence that competitive admissions criteria need not stand in the way of tax-exempt status.
¶ 27. The phrase “indefinite class of persons” should include classes of people selected through an open, competitive admissions process. These would include artists selected through a juried process, musicians and actors who audition, and writers and poets who submit manuscripts to a competition. The activities of these groups provide obvious public benefit. The open nature of the competitions invites a class which is broad, numerous, and indefinite in its membership. That winning a place through a fair competition depends upon individual skill makes it no less “open to all.”
¶ 28. Since I conclude that the majority has defined the statutory term “public use” too narrowly, I respectfully dissent.

 Approximately two percent of the American public participates in fly fishing; the majority of whom are over forty-five years of age. Recreational Boating & Fishing Found, and The Outdoor Found., A Special Report on Fishing and Boating 18 (2009), available at http://www.rbff.org/uploads/Research_section/SpecialReportonBoatingand Fishing.online.pdf.

 At last count there were 221,900 professional artists employed in the United States, exclusive of art teachers, designers, jewelers, photographers, and people in other related professions. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dep’t of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 303 (2010), available at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ ocos092.htm. This does not include the legion of serious artists and gifted amateurs who hold other jobs.