Court Opinion

ID: 9538433
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:36:23.827172+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:57:52.397092
License: Public Domain

GORDON, Justice
(specially concurring):
While I am compelled to agree with the result reached in this case, I would clarify the unqualified assertion made therein at 121 Ariz. 416, 590 P.2d 1362 of the majority opinion:
“Both parties to this action point out that there are three basic types of exemption schemes found among the various state laws. (Citation omitted.) Some states base exemption solely on ownership of the property. Others base exemption solely on use of the property. A third group combine ownership and use. Arizona’s constitutional provision is of the third type.” (Emphasis supplied.)
This leads to the potential interpretation that both use and ownership are concomitant requirements for exemption under all of Article 9, § 2 of the Arizona Constitution. Such an interpretation is belied by the holding in Maricopa County v. Fox Riverside Theatre Corp., 60 Ariz. 260, 135 P.2d 513 (1943), and by the wording of the very first sentence of Article 9, § 2, which deals with exemptions for federal, state, county and municipal property. While I am certain that the majority opinion impliedly limits its holding to the “property of” institutions listed in the second sentence of Article 9, § 2, in order that there be no misinterpretation, I would expressly so limit the holding.