Fulton County Bd. of Tax Assessors v. Visiting Nurse Health Sys. of Metro Atlanta Inc.

Visiting Nurse Health System of Metropolitan Atlanta, Inc. VNHS is a non-profit corporation that provides home health care services. After the Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors the Board assessed ad valorem taxes on certain tangible property owned by VNHS, the corporation appealed to the Board of Equalization, which ruled that the property was taxable. Following a de novo appeal to Fulton County Superior Court, VNHS moved for summary judgment, arguing that it was exempt from taxation as a purely public charitable institution. The trial court agreed, and granted VNHS’ motion. In four enumerations of error, the Board appeals this ruling. For reasons that follow, we reverse.

To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, the movant must demonstrate that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, warrants judgment as a matter of law.1 So viewed, the evidence demonstrates that VNHS is a non-profit corporation that is afforded tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service under § 501c 3 of the Internal Revenue Code. In keeping with its non-profit status, the directors of VNHS receive no compensation, and, although VNHS has one member, it has no shareholders and makes no distributions. But VNHS does have approximately 900 paid employees, including its president, Kathleen Ziegler, who also serves on the board of directors. Ziegler receives a salary for her work as president, but receives no compensation for her work as a director.