In October of last year, my colleague Rebecca Hagan wrote a piece for this blog providing a rundown of the real property tax exemption for Pennsylvania nonprofits. This piece was written in light of local taxing authorities' potential challenges to exemptions already granted to Pennsylvania nonprofits. A recent news story in Pittsburgh reported that small nonprofits, particularly those in Allegheny County, may be losing their real property tax exemptions that are now under review by local taxing authorities.
Rebecca and John Gotaskie, Jr., a partner in Fox Rothschild's Pittsburgh office, just recorded an informative podcast describing the tug-of-war between the Commonwealth's legislative and judicial branches over the standards for such tax exemptions. In particular, Rebecca and John note the 1985 Pennsylvania Supreme Court case Hospital Utilization Project v. Commonwealth, and the resulting five-part "HUP test" to identify institutions that qualify for real property tax exemptions. They also discuss the practical implications of Senate Bill 4, which would amend the Pennsylvania constitution to provide the legislature with the sole authority to determine the criteria for whether a particular institution qualifies for a real property tax exemption.
I hope you'll give their important discussion a listen.
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