Battle over school tax hike in wealthy Pa. district to be heard in state court

• Tom MacDonald/WHYY
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  WHYY reporter Tom MacDonald is a lifelong Philadelphia area resident who has worked in the region since the mid-1980s. Tom started in commercial radio covering the MOVE standoff with police for WFIL-AM. He was also City Hall Bureau Chief covering government and politics for more than a decade for WWDB-FM.
  Tom has been heard on numerous stations in the region during the decade he worked for Metro Traffic, doing news, traffic and weather.
  Tom has also been heard nationally, doing reports for NPR, ABC News Radio, NBC Radio, and CBS Radio.
  He has won the Associated Press award for his coverage of the protests of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and a Religious Communicators award for a post-9/11 documentary he did with the late Peter Jennings.
  
  Tom MacDonald is a lifelong Philadelphia area resident who has worked in the area since the mid 1980s. Tom started in commercial radio covering the MOVE standoff with police for WFIL-AM. He was also City Hall Bureau Chief covering government and politics for more than a decade for WWDB-FM.
  
  Tom has been heard on numerous stations in the region during the decade he worked for Metro Traffic, doing news, traffic and weather.
  
  Tom has also been heard nationally, doing reports for NPR ,ABC News Radio, NBC Radio, and CBS Radio.
  
  He has won the Associated Press award for his coverage of the protests of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and a Religious Communicators award for a post 9-11 documentary he did with the late Peter Jennings.

 Matt Rourke / AP Photo

FILE PHOTO: People walk by the Pennsylvania Judicial Center Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg,.

In a case with potential statewide ramifications, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has decided a legal fight over school taxes in Lower Merion Township will be heard on its merits. The case stems from the district’s 2016 decision to boost taxes despite having cash reserves.

Attorney Arthur Wolk, in a class action suit, claimed Lower Merion used misleading numbers to convince residents to agree to a tax hike, the Act 1 index, which caps tax increases districts can seek without voter approval.

After Wolk won a verdict in a lower court, state Commonwealth Court ruled the district couldn’t appeal based on a procedural quirk. In a unanimous decision this week, the state Supreme Court found the appeal to be valid and sent the case back down to be heard on its merits.

Wolk said Wednesday he was disappointed.

“So far, up until the point where the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania took the case, we won three times — meaning the people won three times,” he said.

Most statewide school advocacy groups support Lower Merion. They fear a decision against the district could open the floodgates for lawsuits against districts that raise taxes despite having fund balances.

Attorney Alfred W. Putnam, representing the district, said Wolk’s case never should have been handled in court.

“There was another procedure he was supposed to follow, the way it should have been done is through the budget process, and then through the Department of Education, which is the way these things are supposed to be done,” said Putnam.

The loser of this next round will likely appeal to the state Supreme Court.

WHYY is the leading public media station serving the Philadelphia region, including Delaware, South Jersey and Pennsylvania. This story originally appeared on WHYY.org.

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