Fact that Property Has a Use “Auxiliary or Incidental to the Main Exempt Purpose” Does Not Defeat the Real Property Tax Exemption Under RPTL 420-a
The Court of Appeals, in finding the property owned by a not-for-profit religious corporation exempt from real estate tax, determined that the “exclusive use” clause of Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) 420-a should be interpreted broadly:
Under [RPTL 420-a], real property owned by a corporation that is “organized and conducted exclusively” for charitable and/or religious purposes, if “used exclusively” for such purposes, “shall be exempt from taxation” (RPTL 420-a [1] [a]). We have defined the term “exclusively” as used in this context “to connote ‘principal’ or ‘primary,’ such that purposes and uses merely ‘auxiliary or incidental to the main and exempt purpose’ and use will not defeat the exemption'” … . Matter of Maetreum of Cybele, Magna Mater Inc v McCoy, 2014 NY Slip Op 07929, CtApp 11-18-14