Central Dauphin School District v. Commonwealth

598 A.2d 1364, 143 Pa. Commw. 374, 1991 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 602
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 7, 1991
DocketNo. 253 Misc. Docket 1991
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 598 A.2d 1364 (Central Dauphin School District v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Central Dauphin School District v. Commonwealth, 598 A.2d 1364, 143 Pa. Commw. 374, 1991 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 602 (Pa. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

PALLADINO, Judge.

In our original jurisdiction under Pa.R.A.P. 1532(b), Petitioners Central Dauphin School District, Hatboro-Horsham [376]*376School District, Steelton-Highspire School District and The Pennsylvania School Board Association1 have filed an application for summary relief, and Respondents Department of Education and Secretary of Education Donald Carroll have filed a cross application for summary relief. Petitioners’ and Respondents’ applications for summary relief have been triggered by the General Assembly’s August 5, 1991 passage of Act 25 of 1991 (Act 25)2 which added subsections (g) and (h) to section 687 of the Public School Code of 1949, 24 P.S. § 6-687(gHh). Each application for summary relief asks this court to declare the respective applicants’ own interpretation of Act 25 to be clearly right as a matter of law and, accordingly, to enter a judgment for the respective applicants. For the following reasons, we deny both Petitioners’ application and Respondents’ application for summary relief.

I. INTRODUCTION TO ACT 25

Petitioners and Respondents agree that Act 25 requires the board of directors for each covered school district3 to reopen the school district’s previously adopted fiscal year 1991-1992 budget for the purpose of adjusting the budget to reflect (1) increases in state subsidies to school districts pursuant to the General Appropriation Act of 19914 and (2) school district expenditure decreases resulting from lower local employer retirement contribution rates. 24 P.S. § 6-687(g).

[377]*377Petitioners and Respondents differ principally in their interpretation of Act 25 concerning how, under newly added subsections 687(g)(2)-(4), the affected school districts shall, after reopening and adjusting their budgets, alleviate the burden of local property and nuisance taxes which were levied at the time of the school districts’ original budget adoptions. Respondents’ interpretation of subsections 687(g)(2)-(4) appears in Respondent Secretary of Education’s August 16, 1991 letter and enclosures which provide fiscal year 1991-1992 budget reopening instructions (hereinafter August 16 budget reopening instructions) to school districts affected by Act 25. In their application for summary relief, Petitioners challenge Respondents’ interpretation of Act 25 as embodied in the August 16 budget reopening instructions, and Petitioners offer their own interpretation of Act 25. In their cross application for summary relief, Respondents reiterate and attempt to bolster their interpretation of Act 25 as expressed in the August 16 budget reopening instructions.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY OF THIS CASE

On August 28, 1991, in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Petitioners filed a petition for review, an application for special relief in the nature of a preliminary injunction and an application for summary relief.

On August 30, 1991, an evidentiary hearing on Petitioners’ application for special relief was held before Judge Madaline Palladino. By an order issued September 5, 1991, Judge Palladino partially granted Petitioners’ application for special relief by preliminarily enjoining Respondents from directing Petitioners to make payments, by October 30, 1991, of abated local property tax and nuisance taxes, or both, which were levied at the time of Petitioners’ original budget adoptions. The September 5 order mandated that the preliminary injunction would remain in effect pending argument on and resolution of Petitioners’ application for summary relief in this matter. The September 5 order denied Petitioners’ application for special relief in all other [378]*378respects and reminded Petitioners that, as a result of the partial denial of their application for special relief, Petitioners were not relieved from complying with the paperwork requirements detailed in the August 16 budget reopening instructions.

On September 10, 1991, Petitioners appealed Judge Palladino’s September 5 order by filing a jurisdictional statement and a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Furthermore, on September 10, 1991, Petitioners applied to the commonwealth court for modification (i.e., expansion) of that portion of Judge Palladino’s September 5 order which granted injunctive relief. See Pa.R.A.P. 1732. Specifically, Petitioners requested that, pending the Pennsylvania supreme court’s disposition of their appeal of Judge Palladino’s September 5 order, the commonwealth court preliminarily enjoin Respondents from enforcing any of the August 16 budget reopening instructions including the paperwork requirements. By an order issued September 25, 1991, Judge Palladino denied Petitioners’ application for modification on the ground that Petitioners had not satisfied the criteria for obtaining injunctive relief pending appeal. See Tri-State Asphalt Corp. v. Department of Transportation, 135 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 410, 582 A.2d 55 (1990), petition for allowance of appeal denied, 527 Pa. 659, 593 A.2d 429 (1991).

On October 7, 1991, a panel of this court heard oral argument on Petitioners’ application for summary relief and Respondents’ cross application for summary relief. Petitioners’ and Respondents’ cross applications are now before us for disposition.

III. RIGHT TO SUMMARY RELIEF

In ruling on an application for summary relief, we must view the evidence of record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and enter judgment only if there are no genuine issues as to any material facts and the right to judgment is clear as a matter of law. Pa.R.A.P. 1532(b); [379]*379Pierce v. Department of Public Welfare, 84 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 602, 480 A.2d 341 (1983); Gartner v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, 79 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 141, 469 A.2d 697 (1983) (application for summary relief is properly evaluated according to summary judgment standards); Peters Township School Authority v. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Co., 78 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 365, 467 A.2d 904 (1983) (summary judgment standards).

In the present case, neither Petitioners nor Respondents contend that there exist any disputed material facts. Consequently, the sole issue for our resolution is whether either Petitioners or Respondents are clearly entitled, as a matter of law, to a declaration that their respective interpretation of Act 25 is correct and, concomitantly, to the entry of a judgment in their favor.

A. Validity of Respondents’ Audit Procedures

Initially, Petitioners assert that their particular interpretation of Act 25 must necessarily prevail because Respondents’ interpretation of Act 25 was allegedly articulated through improperly promulgated regulations (i.e., the August 16 budget reopening instructions) and is, for that reason, purportedly invalid under the Commonwealth Attorneys Act,5 the Regulatory Review Act,

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Bluebook (online)
598 A.2d 1364, 143 Pa. Commw. 374, 1991 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/central-dauphin-school-district-v-commonwealth-pacommwct-1991.