VALLEY FORGE TOWERS APTS. v. SCHOOL DIST.

No. 49 MAP 2016.

163 A.3d 962 (2017)

VALLEY FORGE TOWERS APARTMENTS N, LP; Morgan Properties Abrams Run Owner LP; KBF Associates, LP; Gulph Mills Village Apartments LP; and The Lafayette at Valley Forge LP v. UPPER MERION AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT and Keystone Realty Advisors, LLC. Appeal of: Morgan Properties Abrams Run Owner LP; KBF Associates, LP.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

DECIDED: July 5, 2017.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Mark Alan Aronchick, Esq. , Jonathan Lee Cochran, Esq. , Matthew Aaron Hamermesh, Esq., John S. Summers, Esq. , Cheryl L. Young, Esq. , Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller, for Morgan Properties Abrams Run Owner LP, Appellant and KBF Associates, LP, Appellant.

Wendy G. Rothstein, Esq. , Fox Rothschild, LLP, for Upper Merion Area School District, Appellee and Keystone Realty Advisors, LLC, Appellee.

Douglas Che Allen, Esq. , Dusty Elias Kirk, Esq. , James Christopher Martin, Esq. , Jeffrey Glenn Wilhelm, Esq. , Colin Emmet Wrabley, Esq. , Reed Smith LLP, for PA Retailers' Association, Amicus Curiae.

Joseph C. Bright, Esq. , Robert Michael Careless, Esq. , Cheryl Ann Upham, Esq. , Cozen O'Connor, for Brandywine Realty Trust, Amicus Curiae, PA Chamber of Business & Industry, PA Food Merchants Assoc., PA Manufacturers Assoc., et al, Amicus Curiae.

M. Janet Burkardt, Esq. , Ira Weiss, Esq. , Weiss, Burkardt, Kramer LLC, for School District of Pittsburgh, Amicus Curiae.

Mark Steven Cappuccio, Esq. , Erin Nancy Kernan, Esq. , Eastburn and Gray, P.C., for King of Prussia Associates, Amicus Curiae.

Margarete Pawlowski Choksi, Esq. , Edward A. Diasio, Esq. , Lawrence Donald Dodds, Esq. , Kenneth Roos, Esq. , Wisler, Pearlstine, Talone, Craig, Garrity & Potash, L.L.P., for Abington SD, Lower Merion SD, Great Valley SD, School District of Upper Dublin, Amicus Curiae.

James C. Dalton, Esq. , for West Chester Area School District, Amicus Curiae.

Matthew Paul Domines, Esq. , for Pennsylvania Economy League, Central PA Division, Wilkes-Barre, Amicus Curiae.

John Edward Freund III, Esq. , Jonathan M. Huerta, Esq. , King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul, L.L.C., for Allentown SD, Bethlehem ASD, Easton ASD, Pocono Mountain SD, Amicus Curiae.

Andrew J. Giorgione, Esq. , Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, for PA Apartment Association, Amicus Curiae.

Stuart Lee Knade, Esq. , Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Inc., for Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Amicus Curiae.

Peter Houghton LeVan Jr., Esq. , LeVan Law Group LLC, for Professors Fernandez-Villaverve, Ohanian, Bils, Yelowitz, Miron, Boudreaux, Malinak, Amicus Curiae.

Raymond Paul Wendolowski, Esq. , for Crestwood Area School District, Hazleton SD, Mid Valley SD, Riverside SD, et al, Amicus Curiae.

SAYLOR, C.J., BAER, TODD, DONOHUE, DOUGHERTY, WECHT, MUNDY, JJ.


OPINION

This appeal raises the question of whether the Uniformity Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution permits a taxing authority to selectively appeal only the assessments of commercial properties, such as apartment complexes, while choosing not to appeal the assessments of other types of property —...

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases