Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio v. Edmonton (City)

Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio v. Edmonton (City)

Majority: appeal dismissed because the Synod failed to prove the six professors' residences were "actually used and occupied by" the institution rather than occupied by individual professors, the onus resting on the claimant, and because selection of exempt parcels is the assessor's function absent statutory direction; assessment described as a block with '4 acres exempt' was invalidly uncertain.

Citation
[1934] SCR 280
Parties
Appellant (defendant): Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States; Respondent (plaintiff): City of Edmonton
Court
Supreme Court of Canada
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
6 February 1934
Procedural Posture
Taxation Appeal Under Municipal Charter (exemption Claim) / Appeal to Supreme Court of Canada From Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Alberta
Outcome
Appeal dismissed; judgment of Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Alberta affirmed
Legal Topics
Tax Exemption, Statutory Construction, Assessment Procedure, Occupational/use Qualification
Source Language
English
Taxation Municipal Law Property Law Tax Exemption Statutory Construction Assessment Procedure Occupational/use Qualification

Case Brief

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Parties

Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States

Appellant (defendant)

City of Edmonton

Respondent (plaintiff)

Procedural Posture

Taxation Appeal Under Municipal Charter (exemption Claim) / Appeal to Supreme Court of Canada From Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Alberta

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether professors' residences are exempt under s.320(5) of the Edmonton Charter as land "attached to or otherwise bona fide used in connection with and for the purposes" of the college
  2. 2 Whether the phrase "actually used and occupied by such institution" requires occupation by the institution itself rather than by employees or officers
  3. 3 Who has the right to select which parcels constitute the four-acre exemption (assessor or claimant)

Ratio Decidendi

Majority: appeal dismissed because the Synod failed to prove the six professors' residences were "actually used and occupied by" the institution rather than occupied by individual professors, the onus resting on the claimant, and because selection of exempt parcels is the assessor's function absent statutory direction; assessment described as a block with '4 acres exempt' was invalidly uncertain.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed; judgment of Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Alberta affirmed

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed with costs
  • Appellate Division judgment affirmed