Opinion
No. 41260
Decided March 13, 1968.
Taxation — Exemptions — Real property used for church purposes — Title not transferred to church — Ownership and use for charitable purposes must coincide.
APPEAL from the Board of Tax Appeals.
This appeal from the Board of Tax Appeals involves an application for remission of real property taxes and penalties for the years 1961 through 1966 by the owner of the property taxed. Applicant sold the property on land contract to the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church which used it exclusively for church purposes in those years, but legal title thereto was never transferred. The church never applied for a tax exemption. In late 1966, the property was razed by fire and applicant foreclosed the church's equity therein. The Board of Tax Appeals denied relief.
Messrs. Kahn, Kleinman, Yanowitz Annan, Mr. Neil Kurit, and Mr. Fred Siegel, for appellant.
Mr. John T. Corrigan, prosecuting attorney, and Mr. Thomas P. Cyrus, for appellee.
The applicant is not entitled to remission of taxes and penalties under the clear language of Section 5713.08 of the Revised Code. The decision of the Board of Tax Appeals is affirmed on the authority of Lincoln Memorial Hospital, Inc., v. Warren, Auditor, 13 Ohio St.2d 109.
Decision affirmed.
ZIMMERMAN, MATTHIAS, O'NEILL, HERBERT and BROWN, JJ., concur.
TAFT, C.J., concurs in the judgment.