Update: All checks have been distributed to class members and were sent by USPS. Please allow 30 days for delivery by mail. We will provide further instructions on what to submit if you have not received your check by January 17, 2023.

As part of the terms of the Court-approved settlement, the District provided $15 million total to taxpayers who owned real property in the District at any point in tax years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and/or 2021 and who paid their school real property taxes.  Payments to the Settlement Class was calculated as follows:  The amount each taxpayer received was proportional to the amount of school taxes that taxpayer paid.  The total amount of school taxes each taxpayer paid from 2016 through 2021 was calculated as a percentage of the total amount of school taxes the District received from 2016 through 2021, and that percentage was multiplied by $15 million to identify the amount each taxpayer received.

The Court-approved settlement also included a number of additional terms.  First, the District enacted a millage rate for 2022 that resulted in a lower tax basis for all property owners going forward.  This rate was calculated by using the millage rate included in the 2016 preliminary injunction order and accounted for tax increases since that time.  Second, taxpayers will receive $4 million total credit per year in school property tax bills in 2023, 2024, and 2025.  Third, certain credits may also be applied to tax bills starting in 2024 if certain budgeting surpluses occur.

The parties in Wolk, Brandeis, and Marchand v. Lower Merion School District, No. 2016-01839, pending in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, have reached an agreement to settle the litigation.  The Court will hold a supplemental hearing on October 18, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. ET in Courtroom 9 of the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania to determine whether the terms of the parties’ proposed settlement are fair and reasonable, and to approve the settlement.

If you received a notice of this proposed settlement and the supplemental Court hearing, it is because you have been identified as a property owner in the Lower Merion School District (“the District”) who paid school real property taxes (“school taxes”) in tax years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and/or 2022.  Even if you previously received a postcard notice regarding the parties’ proposed settlement, please read the additional notice in its entirety.  It contains supplemental information about the proposed settlement and the identity of taxpayers who would receive checks as part of the proposed settlement.

As part of the terms of the proposed settlement, the District would provide $15 million total to taxpayers who owned real property in the District and who paid school real property taxes (“school taxes”) in tax years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and/or 2021.  The amount each taxpayer receives will be proportional to the amount of school taxes that taxpayer paid.  The total amount of school taxes each taxpayer paid from 2016 through 2021 will be calculated as a percentage of the total amount of school taxes the District received from 2016 through 2021, and that percentage will be multiplied by $15 million to identify the amount each taxpayer will receive.  (By way of example only, if the District received a total of $240 million in school taxes from 2016 through 2021, and if one taxpayer paid $12,000 in school taxes during that time period, that taxpayer would receive a check for $750 (which is .005 percent of $15 million).)  If the Court approves the settlement, the checks would be sent to the taxpayers within 45 days after the Order approving the terms of settlement.

The District has further agreed to certain prospective action as part of the terms that will be provided to the Court for approval, including:  a credit in the total of $ 4 million per year in the tax bills that will be sent in 2023, 2024, and 2025; a reduction in the school tax millage rate to 31.2045 for the 2022-2023 fiscal year; and the potential for certain credits to be applied in future years. 

For taxpayers who received tax bills for school taxes for 2022, the reduction in the school tax millage rate to 31.2045 was reflected in the tax bills already sent to you.  This reduction was based on the agreement between the District and the Plaintiffs, even though the settlement has not yet been approved by the Court.  That millage rate was calculated by (1) starting with the millage rate basis that would have been in place if the tax increase for 2016 had been 2.40% instead of 4.44%; (2) was increased to account for the tax increases implemented each year between 2016 and 2021; and (3) was further increased by 3.4%, which was the maximum amount of the index tax increase allowed under Act 1 for 2022-2023.  What you saw on your tax 2022 bill was an effective tax increase of 1.39% over last year’s school district tax because of the settlement, instead of a 3.4% increase.  The tax bills you received correctly reflect the amount of school district tax that is to be paid this year, whether or not the Court approves the settlement.

If the Court approves the settlement, the $4 million per year tax credits that will be reflected in the tax bills for 2023, 2024, and 2025 will apply only to taxpayers who own property in Lower Merion School District as of the dates the tax bills are sent in 2023, 2024, and 2025.  Any further tax credits that will be applied in future years will apply only to taxpayers who own property in the Lower Merion School District as of the dates the tax bills are sent.