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It is the duty of the judiciary to protect constitutional rights and, in doing so, “to support the fundamentals on which the Constitution itself rests.” Trustees & c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 487 (1940); see Howlett, 496 U.S. at 367.

at 309-11 (addressing whether entity qualifies as charitable institution under RSA 72:23, V); MacDowell Colony, 157 N.H. at 4-6 (same); Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 504 (1940) (stating that strict construction of the statute “does not best construe the expression of legislative will” when “determining whether a particular charity is within an exempt classification”).

Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 503 (1940) (“A building partly used for class rooms and partly as a dormitory clearly may receive a proportional division of value according to the parts assigned to the different uses.”).

In Trustees Exeter Academy v. Exeter, we noted that a building partly used for exempt purposes and partly for taxable purposes “clearly may receive a proportional division of value according to the parts assigned to the different uses.” Trustees Exeter Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 503 (1940); see also Appeal of City of Concord, 161 N.H. 344, 353-54 (2011).

Accordingly, we decline to apply the case as controlling precedent on the question before us. See Trustees v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 479-81 (1940).

“[T]he laws which subsist at the time and place of the making of a contract, and where it is to be performed, enter into and form a part of it, as if they were expressly referred to or incorporated in its terms.” Trustees & c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 484 (1940) (quotation omitted).

v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 487 (1940); Opinion of the Justices, 4 N.H. 565, 566 (1829).

We have previously interpreted the 1913 law as establishing a “uniform scheme for tax exemptions of charitable institutions,” Hedding &c. Association v. Epping, 88 N.H. 321, 322 (1937), and repealing “all special exemptions.” Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 479 (1940); see also Alton Bay Camp Meeting Asso.

For example, in Trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 27 A.2d 569 (1940), the exemption statute required that land be “owned and occupied” by the institution in order to qualify.

Authority cannot be created by estoppel, State v. Hutchins, 79 N.H. 132, 140, 105 A. 519, 523 (1919), and one cannot rely on asserted authority, Storrs v. Manchester, 88 N.H. 139, 142, 184 A. 862, 864 (1936), or apparent authority, Trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 494, 27 A.2d 569, 586 (1940).

“An unconstitutional act is not a law; it binds no one, and protects no one.” Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 495, 27 A.2d 569, 586 (1940) (quoting Huntington v. Worthen, 120 U.S. 97 101-02 (1887)); Mertens v. Abbott Labs, 595 F. Supp. 834, 837 (D.N.H.

State v. Farrow, 118 N.H. 296, 304, 386 A.2d 808, 813 (1978); see Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 27 A.2d 569 (1940).

Governmental estoppel is appropriate when government officials are acting within their “prescribed sphere and functions,” Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 496, 27 A.2d 569, 586 (1940), and are “[e]xerting no excess of authority.” Id.

Because RSA 77-A:2-a (Supp. 1981) is deemed void ab initio, see Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 495, 27 A.2d 569, 586 (1940), the plaintiffs and all other taxpayers similarly situated are entitled to a refund of the tax they paid under that provision, *700 provided that they timely file their demand for reimbursement with the commissioner of revenue administration pursuant to RSA 77-A:13 (1970 & Supp. 1981

Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 501, 27 A.2d 569, 589 (1940).

v. Alton, 109 N.H. 44, 50, 242 A.2d 80, 86 (1968); see Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 27 A.2d 569 (1940).

The defendants were “not entitled, as against the [district] to rely on the [chairman’s] asserted or assumed exercise of authority not possessed.” Storrs v. Manchester, 88 N.H. 139, 142, 184 A. 862, 864 (1936); Trustees &c. Academy v. Exeter, 90 N.H. 472, 494-95, 27 A.2d 569, 586 (1940).