NESHANNOCK TOWNSHIP Officials plan to fight tax breaks for complex

The judge ordered the school district to refund the organization $86,000 in taxes.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NESHANNOCK, Pa. -- Township officials said they plan to put up a fight before agreeing to give a $6,800 tax refund to an area organization that houses low-income elderly people.
Supervisors on Wednesday said they recently learned that Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Judge Ralph Pratt has granted tax-free status, dating to 1997, to National Church Residences, which owns and operates Neshannock Woods apartment complex.
Over the past three years, the Columbus, Ohio-based not-for-profit organization paid $3,900 in taxes to the township and $2,900 in taxes to the fire department.
School district taxes: Pratt, who made the ruling late last year, also ordered the Neshannock Area School District to repay the organization about $86,000 for taxes paid to the school district over the past three years.
Supervisors said they plan to join forces with the school district and have attorneys for the township and the school district challenge the ruling. They said they were never notified that the organization's request for a tax break had gone to court.
"Someone should have let us know so we could have been present," said John DiCola, supervisor. "We need to authorize our solicitor to do whatever it takes to oppose or overturn that decision. I refuse to sign a check for these people. We should have been given opportunity to fight this and that's what we're going to do."