Taxation — Real estate — Exemption — Charitable institutions — Y.M.C.A. — Residence portion of building — Restaurant — Barber shop — Bowling alleys — General County Assessment Law.
1. The Board of Property Assessment, Appeals and Review of Allegheny County assessed for real estate taxation those portions of five Y.M.C.A. properties which were used for dormitories, cafeterias, barber shop, bowling alleys, and business men's health clubs, upon the theory that they were operated by the Y.M.C.A. as commercial enterprises; whereupon the Y.M.C.A. appealed and contended that each of the five properties was wholly exempt from taxation. The court below found that (1) the dormitories and food service were used for and were reasonably necessary to the purposes of the charity; (2) the renting of dormitory rooms was not a commercial enterprise in that (a) there was no evidence the Y.M.C.A. competed with commercial lodging houses, (b) admission of permanent residents was restricted and was limited primarily to young men of low incomes away from home, and the transient residents were in fact men of the same type as men in the Armed Services, (c) the room rents were much lower than those of nearby hotels, (d) no extra charge was made for use of gymnasium, swimming pool and numerous other facilities, (e) the rooms were small and furnished only with a bed, table and chair, without bath, running water, telephone or porter service, and (f) operation of the dormitories resulted in a net annual loss; (3) the food service facilities were reasonably necessary to the charitable purposes in that (a) they were an integral part of the charitable purpose of providing a "home away from home" for young men of low income, (b) the principal purpose of the food service was service to residents and members, (c) the food service enabled large groups of volunteer workers serving on essential committees to meet and confer at meal times, (d) in policy and effect the cafeterias were used only by residents and members of the Y.M.C.A., (e) the average income per meal in 1942 was 34¢, and (f) the operation of the food service resulted in substantial losses; (4) a small barber shop occupying less than one-half of 1% of the space in one building and operated primarily for the convenience of residents and members was purely incidental to furnishing a home for young men; (5) bowling alleys in two branches restricted to residents and members were incidental to the overall operation of the Y.M.C.A., the purposes of which include physical improvement of its members; and (6) the businessmen's health clubs operated in these branches providing facilities such as steam baths, massage and special locker rooms, were special activities of those branches, not commercial enterprises, and occupied a negligible percentage of the total space. The court below held that all five of the Y.M.C.A. properties were totally exempt from real estate taxation, whereupon the County appealed; and it was Held that the decision of the court below should be affirmed.
2. Y.M.C.A. of Germantown v. Philadelphia, 323 Pa. 401, distinguished.
3. Salvation Army v. Allegheny County, 367 Pa. 373, followed.
OPINION PER CURIAM, November 14, 1955:
The judgment is affirmed on the opinion of Judge HARRY MONTGOMERY of the court below, whose opinion is reported in 4 Pa. D. C.2d 186.