STATE v. OKLAHOMA BETA OF PI BETA PHI SORORITY

STATE v. OKLAHOMA BETA OF PI BETA PHI SORORITY
1936 OK 222
55 P.2d 133
176 Okla. 186
Case Number: 26667
Decided: 03/03/1936
Supreme Court of Oklahoma

STATE
v.
OKLAHOMA BETA OF PI BETA PHI SORORITY

Syllabus

¶0 1. TAXATION - Property of College Sorority Held Exempt From Taxation Under Constitution and Statutes.
Held, that the act approved March 29, 1919, the same being chapter 300, S. L. 1919, and now being section 12329, O. S. 1931, does not exceed the constitutional limitations upon the legislative power to exempt property from taxation and is a valid act. Held, further, that under the proviso in section 6, art. 10, of the Constitution, to wit: "That all property not herein specified now exempt from taxation under the laws of the territory of Oklahoma, shall be exempt from taxation until otherwise provided by law," it had the express effect of exempting all property coming within the classes of property exempted by the territorial statutes, including personal and real property, belonging to scientific, educational, and benevolent institutions, colleges or societies, and devoted solely to the appropriate objects of such institutions, and used solely for such purposes. Held, further, that defendant in error, Oklahoma Beta of Pi Beta Phi Sorority, having been incorporated for such purposes, and its property being devoted and used solely for the promotion of educational, moral, charitable, and public welfare, is exempt from taxation.
2. TAXATION - Use to Which Property Is Dedicated Is Test as to Exemption From Taxation - Question of Fact.
Under section 6, art. 10, of the Constitution, the "use" to which property is in fact dedicated is the test as to whether such property is exempt from taxation, and such "use" is a question of fact, to be determined from the evidence.

Appeal from County Court, Payne County; Ralph B. Simcoe, Judge.

Tax ferret proceeding by the State against Oklahoma Beta of Pi Beta Phi Sorority. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

Guy L. Horton and Gorrill & Asher, for plaintiff in error.
Wilcox & Swank, for defendant in error.

GIBSON, J.

¶1 This is a tax ferret proceeding which originated before the county treasurer of Payne county, Okla., and was afterward appealed to the county court of Payne county, and is here on appeal from a judgment of the county court of Payne county, wherein the county court held that the property of the defendant in error is exempt from taxation for the years 1932, 1933, and 1934.

¶2 The parties to this cause have agreed by written stipulation filed herein that the facts in this case are in all material respects the same as the facts in the case of Phi Kappa Psi v. State of Oklahoma, No. 26505, decided January 21, 1936, 175 Okla. 605, 53 P.2d 130, and the parties have further stipulated that the opinion of this court rendered in cause No. 26505 may be adopted as the opinion in this case and that the judgment of the trial court may be affirmed.

¶3 We have examined the record in this case and we find the facts are correctly stated in the stipulation and that they do not differ materially from the facts in the case of Phi Kappa Psi v. State of Oklahoma, No. 26505.

¶4 The opinion of this court in cause No. 26505, Phi Kappa Psi v. State of Oklahoma, is hereby adopted as the opinion in this cause, and the syllabus therein is also adopted as the syllabus herein, and for the reason stated in the aforesaid opinion, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.