PA Supreme Court Hearing LMSD Tax Suit Wednesday

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA – The tax-hike lawsuit filed against the Lower Merion School District by resident Arthur Wolk in February 2016 will head to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Wednesday.

The court will hear arguments from the district and Wolk, who is representing other Lower Merion residents in the case in which Wolk alleges the district raised taxes based on projected deficits that never actually arose in the district budget and benefited from resulting surpluses.

When asked for comment, the district said it is looking forward to presenting its case in court.

This ongoing battle between the district and complainants moved to the state's highest court after the district's request for a review and reargument of an appeal filed in April 2017 and lost was denied by a Commonwealth Judge in June 2017.

The appeal that was tossed in April was filed in response to the suit being dismissed, according to the district.

Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph A. Smyth placed an injunction on the district in August 2016, saying it could not enact the increase and was only allowed to raise taxes by 2.4 percent per the Taxpayer Relief Act (Act 1) of 2006.

Then in September 2016, the court placed an injunction on Lower Merion School District's 2016-2017 tax plan has been stayed, allowing the district to enact its 4.4 percent tax hike until the district's appeal process is complete, but the subsequent appeal and its denial meant the district must repay a portion of the 4.4 percent increase.

The stay was issued because Lower Merion School District is a political subdivision of the state or a local government while the case is under appeal, meaning the district does did not have to shift its tax raise to 2.4 percent as ordered by Smyth.

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