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The Pennsylvania State","paragraph_id":"para_36"},{"text":"System of Higher Education and West Chester University1 maintain that this charge is a","paragraph_id":"para_37"},{"text":"tax, from which they are immune, rather than a fee, which they are required to pay. I","paragraph_id":"para_38"},{"text":"agree with the Majority only to the extent that it holds that the Commonwealth Court","paragraph_id":"para_39"},{"text":"properly allocated the burden of proof in this matter to the Borough when it ruled upon","paragraph_id":"para_40"},{"text":"the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment.2","paragraph_id":"para_41"},{"text":"1 I refer to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and West Chester","paragraph_id":"para_42"},{"text":"University collectively herein as “the University.”","paragraph_id":"para_43"},{"text":"2 Maj. Op. at 10, n.7.","paragraph_id":"para_44"},{"text":"[J-56-2024] [MO: Brobson, J.] - 2","paragraph_id":"para_45"},{"text":"On the question of whether the stormwater charge is a tax or a fee, I dissent from","paragraph_id":"para_46"},{"text":"the Majority’s conclusion that it is a tax from which the University enjoys immunity. In this","paragraph_id":"para_47"},{"text":"regard, I join the bulk of Justice McCaffery’s Concurring and Dissenting Opinion. I agree","paragraph_id":"para_48"},{"text":"with Justice McCaffery that the stormwater charge constitutes a fee, which the University","paragraph_id":"para_49"},{"text":"is required to pay, rather than a tax. As Justice McCaffery observes, the University","paragraph_id":"para_50"},{"text":"benefits from the stormwater management system, which alleviates the University’s","paragraph_id":"para_51"},{"text":"burden to manage its own stormwater.3 Our case law concerning other kinds of waste","paragraph_id":"para_52"},{"text":"management services suggests that, similar to trash removal, ash collection, and the","paragraph_id":"para_53"},{"text":"operation of a sewer system, a stormwater management system is a service for which a","paragraph_id":"para_54"},{"text":"municipal entity may assess a fee.4","paragraph_id":"para_55"},{"text":"The Majority’s analysis ends at its conclusion that the Borough of West Chester is","paragraph_id":"para_56"},{"text":"acting in its public capacity, and the stormwater charge is, therefore, a tax.5 I agree with","paragraph_id":"para_57"},{"text":"Justice McCaffery’s analysis, which would require a determination of whether the","paragraph_id":"para_58"},{"text":"stormwater charge is proportional to the benefit the University receives from its use of the","paragraph_id":"para_59"},{"text":"stormwater management system. Determining whether a charge is reasonably","paragraph_id":"para_60"},{"text":"proportional6 to the value of the service rendered involves two considerations. The first is","paragraph_id":"para_61"},{"text":"3 Concurring and Dissenting Op. at 13.","paragraph_id":"para_62"},{"text":"4 Supervisors of Manheim Twp. v. Workman, 38 A.2d 273, 276 (Pa. 1944); Sw.","paragraph_id":"para_63"},{"text":"Delaware Cnty. Mun. Auth. v. Aston Twp., 198 A.2d 867, 874 (Pa. 1964) (requiring school","paragraph_id":"para_64"},{"text":"district to pay “sewer rentals”). The intermediate courts have reached similar conclusions","paragraph_id":"para_65"},{"text":"with respect to sewer and trash collection services. See GSP Mgmt. Co. v. Duncansville","paragraph_id":"para_66"},{"text":"Mun. Auth., 126 A.3d 369, 376-77 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2015) (concluding that because the","paragraph_id":"para_67"},{"text":"amount billed was unreasonable to the service rendered, otherwise permissible sewer","paragraph_id":"para_68"},{"text":"fees were unauthorized taxes); M&D Properties, Inc. v. Borough of Port Vue, 893 A.2d","paragraph_id":"para_69"},{"text":"858, 862 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006) (finding trash collection fees to be reasonable).","paragraph_id":"para_70"},{"text":"5 Maj. Op. at 32.","paragraph_id":"para_71"},{"text":"6 Manheim Twp., 38 A.2d at 276.","paragraph_id":"para_72"},{"text":"[J-56-2024] [MO: Brobson, J.] - 3","paragraph_id":"para_73"},{"text":"the basis upon which the charge is assessed. The second is the array of costs that","paragraph_id":"para_74"},{"text":"properly may be assessed upon that basis.","paragraph_id":"para_75"},{"text":"In this case, impervious surface area provides a reasonable, approximate basis—","paragraph_id":"para_76"},{"text":"if not the only practicable one—for allocating the burden of funding the Borough’s system.","paragraph_id":"para_77"},{"text":"This Court has acknowledged that precise determination of the extent of one’s use of a","paragraph_id":"para_78"},{"text":"service is sometimes impossible or impractical.7 In such circumstances, we have allowed","paragraph_id":"para_79"},{"text":"the use of an associated metric as a proxy. For instance, in In re City of Philadelphia,8 a","paragraph_id":"para_80"},{"text":"sewer charge was based, in part, upon a property owner’s water use. To that extent, we","paragraph_id":"para_81"},{"text":"deemed the fee’s rationale to be unobjectionable, “since the amount of water which flows","paragraph_id":"para_82"},{"text":"into a building is apt to be roughly proportional to what flows out as sewage.”9","paragraph_id":"para_83"},{"text":"As for the second consideration—the costs that users of the service may be","paragraph_id":"para_84"},{"text":"expected to shoulder—a fee may not be based upon the costs of constructing a local","paragraph_id":"para_85"},{"text":"benefit, as this would constitute a special assessment in disguise.10 Rather, all costs","paragraph_id":"para_86"},{"text":"“reasonably related” to the maintenance and operation of the stormwater system fairly","paragraph_id":"para_87"},{"text":"can be imposed on large scale users of that system.11 The effects of stormwater","paragraph_id":"para_88"},{"text":"discharge from any given property are diffuse. Efforts to manage one property’s","paragraph_id":"para_89"},{"text":"7 Id. (explaining that it would be impossible to determine the amount of streetlight","paragraph_id":"para_90"},{"text":"that a property uses, and proposing street frontage as a permissible basis for assessing","paragraph_id":"para_91"},{"text":"a fee).","paragraph_id":"para_92"},{"text":"8 21 A.2d 876 (Pa. 1941).","paragraph_id":"para_93"},{"text":"9 Id. at 878. The charge also was based upon the assessed value of the subject","paragraph_id":"para_94"},{"text":"property. That basis, we concluded, bore no relation to the service rendered. As a result,","paragraph_id":"para_95"},{"text":"we ultimately held that the charge was a tax. Id.","paragraph_id":"para_96"},{"text":"10 See City of Philadelphia, 21 A.2d at 879 (a charge must be based on extent of use,","paragraph_id":"para_97"},{"text":"rather than the cost of furnishing the facilities); see also City of Philadelphia v.","paragraph_id":"para_98"},{"text":"Cumberland County Board of Assessment Appeals, 81 A.3d 24, 50 (Pa. 2013) (“An arm,","paragraph_id":"para_99"},{"text":"agency, subdivision, or municipality of the Commonwealth enjoys sovereign immunity","paragraph_id":"para_100"},{"text":"from local real estate taxation.”).","paragraph_id":"para_101"},{"text":"11 See Concurring and Dissenting Op. at 12.","paragraph_id":"para_102"},{"text":"[J-56-2024] [MO: Brobson, J.] - 4","paragraph_id":"para_103"},{"text":"stormwater necessarily may occur far from that property. The summary judgment record","paragraph_id":"para_104"},{"text":"here suggests that stormwater management, viewed broadly, might involve efforts to","paragraph_id":"para_105"},{"text":"prevent runoff by improving and/or restoring aspects of the natural environment, as well","paragraph_id":"para_106"},{"text":"as efforts to direct runoff flow and to minimize pollution.12 The stormwater charge here","paragraph_id":"para_107"},{"text":"may fairly account for the cost of such efforts.","paragraph_id":"para_108"},{"text":"Although I agree with Justice McCaffery that the stormwater charge is a fee, I do","paragraph_id":"para_109"},{"text":"not join Justice McCaffery to the extent that he relies upon the Environmental Rights","paragraph_id":"para_110"},{"text":"Amendment13 as support for his analysis or for the decision by municipalities to implement","paragraph_id":"para_111"},{"text":"stormwater management systems.14 Whether (and how) the ERA requires political","paragraph_id":"para_112"},{"text":"subdivisions to fund stormwater management systems is irrelevant to the question of","paragraph_id":"para_113"},{"text":"whether the charge constitutes a tax or a fee. The reach of the ERA with respect to","paragraph_id":"para_114"},{"text":"stormwater management is a distinct question, and one that is beyond the scope of this","paragraph_id":"para_115"},{"text":"12 See Borough of West Chester v. PASSHE, 291 A.3d 455, 460-61 (Pa. Cmwlth.","paragraph_id":"para_116"},{"text":"2023).","paragraph_id":"para_117"},{"text":"13 The Amendment (“the ERA”) provides:","paragraph_id":"para_118"},{"text":"The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of","paragraph_id":"para_119"},{"text":"the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.","paragraph_id":"para_120"},{"text":"Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the","paragraph_id":"para_121"},{"text":"people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources,","paragraph_id":"para_122"},{"text":"the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all","paragraph_id":"para_123"},{"text":"the people.","paragraph_id":"para_124"},{"text":"PA. CONST. art. I, § 27.","paragraph_id":"para_125"},{"text":"In general, the ERA preserves certain environmental rights for the citizens of the","paragraph_id":"para_126"},{"text":"Commonwealth, and imposes responsibilities on the Commonwealth as a trustee. See","paragraph_id":"para_127"},{"text":"Pa. Env’t Def. Found. v. Commonwealth, 161 A.3d 911, 930-33 (Pa. 2017). Pursuant to","paragraph_id":"para_128"},{"text":"the ERA, the Commonwealth has a “duty to prohibit the degradation, diminution, and","paragraph_id":"para_129"},{"text":"depletion of our public natural resources, whether these harms might result from direct","paragraph_id":"para_130"},{"text":"state action or from the actions of private parties,” and “must act affirmatively via","paragraph_id":"para_131"},{"text":"legislative action to protect the environment.” Id. at 933 (citing Robinson Twp. v.","paragraph_id":"para_132"},{"text":"Commonwealth, 83 A.3d 901, 958 (Pa. 2013)).","paragraph_id":"para_133"},{"text":"14 See Concurring and Dissenting Op. at 14.","paragraph_id":"para_134"},{"text":"[J-56-2024] [MO: Brobson, J.] - 5","paragraph_id":"para_135"},{"text":"appeal. As the ERA’s interface with stormwater management is not a part of this case, I","paragraph_id":"para_136"},{"text":"would not make it so now. Opining upon the impact of the ERA on today’s case could","paragraph_id":"para_137"},{"text":"prove problematic in future cases, and could appear to constitutionalize a non-","paragraph_id":"para_138"},{"text":"constitutional dispute. Sufficient unto the day is the lawsuit thereof.","paragraph_id":"para_139"},{"text":"Nor do I join Justice McCaffery’s invocation of public policy as support for","paragraph_id":"para_140"},{"text":"concluding that the stormwater charge is a fee.15 In my view, a public policy approach","paragraph_id":"para_141"},{"text":"has no place in the analysis of whether the stormwater charge is a fee or a tax.","paragraph_id":"para_142"},{"text":"15 See Concurring Dissenting Op. at 13. 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