Philadelphia v. Pennsylvania Hospital

Citations

• 154 Pa. 9

Syllabus

<p>Taxation — Exemption—Municipal claim, — Purely public charity.</p> <p>On a municipal claim for water pipe filed against a portion of the land owned by a hospital for the insane, it appeared that the managers of the hospital maintained upon the land in question a building reserved exclusively for the use of patients paying a higher rate than any others. The object of the trustees in maintaining this department was to make a profit, but no actual profit was realized after taking into consideration the value of the ground and improvements and the cost of maintenance. The apparent profit was used in extending the hospital’s capacity for good among the destitute members of the community, and no portion of it enured to the benefit of any person concerned in administering the charity: Held, that the property was exempt from taxation, and that the municipal claim could not be sustained.</p>