Lee Memorial Methodist Church of Norwich, Connecticut v. Norwich

Syllabus

The defendant town appealed from the trial court's judgment sustaining the plaintiff church's appeal from the defendant's denial of a tax exemption pursuant to statute (§ 12-81 (14)) for a portion of the plaintiff's real property leased to a for-profit, licensed daycare facility. The defendant claimed, inter alia, that the court misapplied the plain language of § 12-81 (14). Held: The defendant's claim that the trial court misapplied the plain language of § 12-81 (14) because the plaintiff's property was not used exclusively as a daycare facility was unavailing, as the statutory language does not require that the plaintiff be affiliated with or operate the daycare facility on its property in order for the tax exemption to apply. The trial court properly reconciled the statutory requirements of § 12-81 (14) with the tax exemption statute (§ 12-88) governing its provisions, as the property leased by the daycare facility was owned by the plaintiff, a religious organization, used exclusively as a daycare facility, and leased in furtherance of the purpose intended under § 12-81 (14), namely, as a daycare facility. The defendant's claim that the trial court erred in failing to apply the prin- ciple of noscitur a sociis to supply the phrase \not-for-profit\ to the daycare facility exception contained in § 12-81 (14) was unavailing, as there was no confusion or ambiguity regarding the term \daycare facility\ as it is used in § 12-81 (14). The trial court was not required to apply the analysis set forth in St. Joseph's Living Center, Inc. v. Windham (290 Conn. 695), as it was inapplicable to this case. This court declined to review the defendant's claim that permitting a tax exemption under the present circumstances would subvert public policy by granting an unfair advantage to nonprofit organizations to the disadvantage of commercial landlords, as § 12-81 (14) is clear and unambiguous regarding the exemption for daycare facilities and the application of the statute to the f