570
Opinion of the Court
parties agreed on the relevant facts, they filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The Superior Court ruled for petitioner, explaining that under Maine's statute:
"Denial of a tax exemption is explicitly and primarily triggered by engaging in a certain level of interstate commerce. This denial makes operation of the institutions serving non-residents more expensive. This increased cost results from an impermissible distinction between in-state and out-of-state consumers. See Commonwealth Edison Co., 453 U. S., at 617-19. . . . Maine's charitable tax exemption is denied, not because there is a difference between the activities of charitable institutions serving residents and non-residents, but because of the residency of the people whom the institutions serve." App. to Pet. for Cert. 14a-15a (footnote omitted).
The Town, but not the State, appealed and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court reversed. 655 A. 2d 876 (1995). Noting that a Maine statute 6 characterized tax exemptions as "tax expenditures," it viewed the exemption for charitable institutions as the equivalent of a purchase of their services. Id., at 878. Because the exemption statute "treats all Maine charities alike"—given the fact that "all have the opportunity to qualify for an exemption by choosing to dispense the majority of their charity locally"—it "regulates evenhandedly with only incidental effects on interstate commerce." Id., at 879. In the absence of evidence that petitioner's camp "competes with other summer camps outside of or within Maine," or that the statute "impedes interstate travel" or that it "provides services that are necessary for interstate travel," the Court concluded that petitioner had
State did not appeal the adverse decision of the Superior Court and, therefore, is not a respondent in this Court. We shall use the term "Town" to refer to the respondents collectively.
6 Me. Rev. Stat. Ann., Tit. 36, § 196 (1990).
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