MontCo Resident Asks Judge To Stop Tax Increase
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA (CBS) -- A Gladwyne resident and well known aviation attorney is asking a Montgomery County judge for an injunction to prevent the Lower Merion School District from moving on a tax increase for the new fiscal year.
He claims the District is "running a scam on taxpayers."
When the School District meets Monday night, it is expected to approve a 2.48% tax increase. But, Arthur Wolk says it's actually a more than 5% increase, even though a judge last year ordered the District to roll back a 4.4% tax increase to 2.4%.
"And it's just unbelievable. They're going to do it anyway," Wolk said.
And, he points out, a Commonwealth Court panel dismissed the District's appeal.
"What the School District has now done, is ignore the fact that they lost the case, and use the tax base for the new tax increase, as if they won the case," said Wolk.
How does it affect taxpayers?
"It essentially defrauds them," Wolk explained.
The School District believes the three-judge Commonwealth Court panel's decision to dismiss the appeal was based on technical factors, and not on the merits.
It is asking for a re-hearing before the entire Commonwealth Court.
Wolk is asking the Court to declare the pending tax increase "null and void," and hold the District in Contempt of Court for allegedly violating the Taxpayer Relief Act and, as he puts it, "committing a fraud on the taxpayers."
In a statement, the District says it has "acted transparently and lawfully at every step of the budget process." It calls Wolk's claims "baseless."
