UPMC Appeals Clinton County Assessment Appeal Turndown

LOCK HAVEN— As expected, UPMC Susquehanna Lock Haven, owner of the Lock Haven Hospital, is appealing a Clinton County decision to turn down the hospital’s real estate tax appeal.

A Williamsport law firm went into Clinton County Court on Friday of last week, appealing the Oct. 31 decision of the county commissioners (sitting as the board of appeals), to reject the UPMC request for exemption from local real estate taxes. UPMC had 30 days to appeal into court.

At stake is more than $300,000 in annual tax revenue for the three affected taxing bodies: Clinton County, $72,421.80; City of Lock Haven, $72,523.91; and the Keystone Central School District, $163,190.46.

The petition for appeal for UPMC came from Ann Pepperman from McCormick Law Firm; it makes the case that the Lock Haven-based hospital is “a purely public charity…exempt from real estate property taxes” under state assessment law. The petition notes the commissioners denied the exemption request “without opinion and without articulating a basis for the denial.” The appellant asks that the court reverse the county decision and direct that UPMC Susquehanna Lock Haven “be classified as a tax-exempt organization” for its real estate taxes in the county.

UPMC Susquehanna Lock Haven purchased Lock Haven Hospital in 2017and has been paying real estate taxes in the interim; the previous hospital owner had been a for-profit facility. But new owner UPMC filed its property value assessment appeal in August of this year with the Clinton County Assessment Office.