Religious Summer Camp Is Not A Charity

A panel of the Commonwealth Court held that a Jewish religious camp located in Pike County was not entitled to exemption as a purely public charity because it did not meet one of the case law requirements that an institution relieve the government of some of its burden. Mesivtah Eitz Chaim of Bobov, Inc. v. Pike County Board of Assessment Appeals, No. 2343 C.D. 2008 (Pa. Cmwlth. Dec. 29, 2009) (unreported).

The court first overruled the finding of the lower court that Mesivtah did not benefit a substantial and indefinite class of persons that are the legitimate subjects of charity. The Commonwealth Court stated that Mesivtah demonstrated that the cost of the camp was generally subsidized and that extra subsidies benefited those of little or no means. Quoting other case law, the court held that a charity need not benefit exclusively persons of little means; the benefits can extend to all persons generally.