PML solicitors:

As many of you know, the City of Scranton on September 16 argued an appeal of an important Act 511 case in the Commonwealth Court sitting en banc. St. Fleur, et al. v. City of Scranton, et al., 112 CD 2020.  The decision is pending.  The question there is whether the limits set forth in Act 511 apply to Home Rule and Act 47 municipalities.  The court below held that Act 511 limits are applicable.  PML disagrees, needless to say.  There is general agreement that the subjects of taxation are those identified in Act 511.

We submitted an amicus in the Commonwealth Court on behalf of PML.  Thanks to those of you who assisted us in gathering pertinent data.

We have been asked to identify the municipalities most directly and immediately affected by this ruling and, using the DCED website and data for the years 2015 to 2018, identified these Home Rule and Act 47 municipalities as being over or within 10% of the Act 511 limits that would be applicable if the lower court’s ruling were to be upheld:

Farrell
Pittsburgh
Reading
Sharon
Wilkes-Barre
Warren
Youngsville
Carbondale
Coatesville
Easton
Johnstown
McKeesport
Harrisburg
Mahanoy
Shamokin
New Castle
Rankin

In the conclusion of the principal amicus brief, we wrote:

This Court’s decision in this appeal will have an immediate significant impact on at least seventeen municipalities and their residents.  As the Court can see from the above data, these municipalities must face the potential impact of a severe restriction on the ability to function and finance public safety and other municipal activities.  The uncertainty as to their ability to set tax rates and set budget prospectively is an uncertainty which this Honorable Court must resolve. PML urges the Court to reverse the decision of the trial court below.

William W. Warren, Jr.
Moderator PML Listserv
Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
2 North Second Street, Suite 700
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Office (717) 238-7698 | Cell (717) 979-5570
william.warren@saul.commailto:william.warren@saul.com

"Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP (saul.com) " made the following annotations:
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Thank you for providing this update.

Andrea

Andrea L. Stapleford, Esq.

Stapleford & Byham, LLC
600 Market St.
Warren, PA 16365
(814) 723-3445
(814) 723-7950 (fax)
mailto:asalawchris@atlanticbb.net asalawandrea@atlanticbb.net

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From: Pmlsolicitors pmlsolicitors-bounces@lists.imla.org On Behalf Of Warren Jr., William W.
Sent: Friday, October 9, 2020 11:14 AM
To: pmlsolicitors@lists.imla.org
Cc: John Brenner JBrenner@pml.org; Richard J. Schuettler (rschuettler@pml.org) rschuettler@pml.org
Subject: [Pmlsolicitors] St. Fleur v. Scranton (Applicability of Act 511 limits to Home Rule and Distressed Municipalities)

PML solicitors:

As many of you know, the City of Scranton on September 16 argued an appeal of an important Act 511 case in the Commonwealth Court sitting en banc. St. Fleur, et al. v. City of Scranton, et al., 112 CD 2020.  The decision is pending.  The question there is whether the limits set forth in Act 511 apply to Home Rule and Act 47 municipalities.  The court below held that Act 511 limits are applicable.  PML disagrees, needless to say.  There is general agreement that the subjects of taxation are those identified in Act 511.

We submitted an amicus in the Commonwealth Court on behalf of PML.  Thanks to those of you who assisted us in gathering pertinent data.

We have been asked to identify the municipalities most directly and immediately affected by this ruling and, using the DCED website and data for the years 2015 to 2018, identified these Home Rule and Act 47 municipalities as being over or within 10% of the Act 511 limits that would be applicable if the lower court’s ruling were to be upheld:

Farrell

Pittsburgh

Reading

Sharon

Wilkes-Barre

Warren

Youngsville

Carbondale

Coatesville

Easton

Johnstown

McKeesport

Harrisburg

Mahanoy

Shamokin

New Castle

Rankin

In the conclusion of the principal amicus brief, we wrote:

This Court’s decision in this appeal will have an immediate significant impact on at least seventeen municipalities and their residents.  As the Court can see from the above data, these municipalities must face the potential impact of a severe restriction on the ability to function and finance public safety and other municipal activities.  The uncertainty as to their ability to set tax rates and set budget prospectively is an uncertainty which this Honorable Court must resolve. PML urges the Court to reverse the decision of the trial court below.

William W. Warren, Jr.

Moderator PML Listserv

Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

2 North Second Street, Suite 700

Harrisburg, PA 17101

Office (717) 238-7698 | Cell (717) 979-5570

william.warren@saul.com mailto:william.warren@saul.com

"Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP (saul.com)" has made the following annotations:

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This e-mail may contain privileged, confidential, copyrighted, or other legally protected information. If you are not the intended recipient (even if the e-mail address is yours), you may not use, copy, or retransmit it. If you have received this by mistake please notify us by return e-mail, then delete.

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