Cassiano v. Ursuline Academy

Citations

• 64 Tex. 673

Syllabus

<p>1. Article 13, section 3, constitution 1876 — Construction — School property.— The owner of land and buildings used for private school purposes applied for an injunction to prevent them from being sold for taxes, claiming that under the constitution of 1876 the property was exempt from taxation. Held:</p> <p>(1) That the constitution of 1876 exempts a building used exclusively for school purposes; the word building is as broad as the term house, and house has been construed to mean both the structure and the land on which it stands. Trinity Church v. Boston, 118 Mass., 164. Those who codified our laws, and the legislature that adopted the Bevised Statutes, construed the word building to embrace the land used in connection with it.</p> <p>(3) That it has been the policy of the state to encourage educational enterprises by exempting them from the burdens of government, and there is nothing to warrant the inference that the framers of the constitution, in the use of the word building, intended to discriminate against private schools.</p> <p>(3) That ground used for the recreation of the students and to supply the school table with vegetables was necessary and used for the proper and economical conduct of the school, and, as such, was exempt. Following Pierce v. Cambridge, 3 Cush., 611; Mass. Gen. Hospital v. Somerville, 101 Mass., 319.</p> <p>3. Tax deed — Cloud on title — Equity.— A collector’s deed to property subject to taxation and sold in accordance with law vests a good and perfect title, which can only be impeached for actual fraud. Such a deed would, therefore, constitute a cloud upon the title of land, regularly sold, but not liable for the tax, to prevent or remove which equity may be invoked.</p>