Preamble
We, the people of the
Bill of Rights, section
1
All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain
inherent and inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned:
Second: The right of worshiping Almighty God according to
the dictates of their consciences.
Bill of Rights, section
5
No preference shall ever be given by law to any religious
sect, society or denomination; nor to any particular creed, mode of worship or
system of ecclesiastical polity; nor shall any person be compelled to attend any
place of worship, to contribute to the erection or maintenance of any such
place, or to the salary or support of any minister of religion; nor shall any
man be compelled to send his child to any school to which he may be
conscientiously opposed; and the civil rights, privileges or capacities of no
person shall be taken away, or in any way diminished or enlarged, on account of
his belief or disbelief of any religious tenet, dogma or teaching. No human
authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of
conscience.
Education, section
189
No portion of any fund or tax now existing, or that may
hereafter be raised or levied for educational purposes, shall be appropriated
to, or used by, or in aid of, any church, sectarian or denominational school.
Revenue and Taxation, section
170
There shall be exempt from taxation public property used
for public purposes; places of burial not held for private or corporate profit;
real property owned and occupied by, and personal property both tangible and
intangible owned by, institutions of religion; institutions of purely public
charity, and institutions of education not used or employed for gain by any
person or corporation, and the income of which is devoted solely to the cause of
education, public libraries, their endowments, and the income of such property
as is used exclusively for their maintenance . . . . The real property may be
held by legal or equitable title, by the entireties, jointly, in common, as a
condominium, or indirectly by the stock ownership or membership representing the
owner's or member's proprietary interest in a corporation owning a fee or a
leasehold initially in excess of ninety-eight years. The exemptions shall apply
only to the value of the real property assessable to the owner or, in case of
ownership through stock or membership in a corporation, the value of the
proportion which his interest in the corporation bears to the assessed value of
the property. . . . Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 3, 172, and 174
of this Constitution to the contrary, the General Assembly may provide by law an
exemption for all or any portion of the property tax for any class of personal
property.