Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, which operates a hospital, has sued Allentown, Pa., charging it should not have been dinged for taxes starting in 2012. A right-to-know request filed by The Morning Call in June asking for bills assessed to nonprofits was denied based on local confidentiality rules.
According to The Morning Call, the suit alleges that Allentown incorrectly taxed Good Shepherd for management fees, gross rent, expense reimbursement, insurance reimbursement, management service, investment income and Health Network Labs revenue. The court appeal covers tax years 2012 to 2016. The suit alleges the assessment is “unlawfully excessive, improperly determined and non-uniform,” and therefore in violation of Pennsylvania’s constitution.
Good Shepherd first appealed the tax assessment to an internal city review board, but lost. A copy of the appeal is attached to the lawsuit, but withheld from the public for confidentiality reasons. There are no publicly available documents to show how much Good Shepherd has been assessed. Business privilege tax ranks third in driving city revenue for the city, according to The Morning Call.
Allentown expects to raise nearly $30 million from property taxes in 2018, and about $32 million from earned income taxes, which are paid by residents and nonresidents. To see read more go to: https://bit.ly/2xlRnr7
