Commonwealth v. Erie Excavating & Grading Co.

Opinion by

Me. Justice Eagen,

This matter comes before us on appeal from the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County excluding Erie Excavating & Grading Company (hereinafter Erie) from the payment of a use tax previously assessed by the Commonwealth. The case involves interpretation of the public utility exclusion contained in The Tax Act of 1963 for Education.1

The germane facts are as follows: The United States Army Corps of Engineers decided to increase the size of a Pennsylvania reservoir. This increase, as plotted, would inundate certain portions of the right of way of the…