Borough of West Chester v. Taxpayers of West Chester

McGINLEY, Judge.

Appellants, the Borough of West Chester (Borough) and the Borough Council (Council), have appealed from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County (trial court) which invalidated both a local mercantile tax ordinance and an amendment to the local business privilege tax ordinance. There are no relevant facts in dispute and the only legal question is whether these local tax ordinances violate Section 533 of the Local Tax Reform Act (Act). 1

On December 1, 1988, Council enacted two ordinances taxing gross business receipts: one adopted a mercantile tax and the other…