Pottstown’s superintendent Stephen Rodriguez said he was thrilled by the decision. “This decision is validation that our concerns with Tower Health were appropriate. They did not meet the measure of the law and should be paying their fair share of taxes and I look forward to them paying up.”
Aldeen’s Sunday Morning Bathroom Read:
By Doug Aldeen• ERISA Healthcare Attorney and General Counsel
Commonwealth Court on Friday ruled that four Tower Health hospitals, including one that has been sold, are not eligible for property-tax exemptions.
The decisions are a significant victory for the four school districts in Chester and Montgomery Counties that are home to Brandywine, Jennersville, Phoenixville, and Pottstown Hospitals. Each district filed its own suit.
If the decisions withstand a potential appeal to the state Supreme Court, they could have a major impact on Pennsylvania’s nonprofit hospitals, which historically have had a relatively easy road to property-tax exemption as long as they treat people regardless of their ability to pay.
“…[the CEO] and the Board of Tower Health were no more tha[n] corporate health care raiders . . . . The goal as evident from the financial documentation offered at trial was simple and direct – drain the juice out of the hospitals until there was nothing left but a dried-out husk and then leave, close the doors, or sell what was left…”
Tower Health loses property tax fight at Commonwealth Court (ampproject.org)
