Chartiers Valley School District v. Board of Property Assessment Appeals, Review and Registry of Allegheny County

The Chartiers Valley School District (school district) appeals from the order of The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County (trial court) that concluded the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh (JCC), including its South Hills Branch (the Branch), is an institution of purely public charity under the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act (Act 55). *fn1 We affirm.

The trial court reached its conclusion after a three-day bench trial and it affirmed the decision of the Allegheny County Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review (the Board) that determined the JCC was entitled to this exemption because it is an institution of purely public charity. The bench trial involved the testimony of six witnesses and the admission of sixty exhibits. After outlining the criteria set forth in Section 5 of Act 55, *fn2 the trial court made seventy findings of fact and twenty conclusions of law and decided that the JCC, including the Branch, is exempt from property taxes for the tax year 1998 and all subsequent tax years.