Mesivtah Eitz Chaim of Bobov, Inc. v. Pike County Board of Assessment Appeals

OPINION

EAKIN, Justice.

Appellant, Mesivtah Eitz Chaim of Bobov, Inc., appeals the Commonwealth Court ruling, asking that we find it is an “institution [] of purely public charity” under Article VIII, *466§ 2(a)(v) of the Pennsylvania Constitution, entitled to exemption from real estate taxes. We allowed appeal to determine if we must defer to the General Assembly’s statutory definition of that term. We affirm, holding our prior jurisprudence sets the constitutional minimum for exemption from taxes; the legislation may codify what is intended to be exempted, but it cannot lessen the constitutional…