City of Philadelphia v. Lerner

Summary

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed an order upholding a judgment for the City of Philadelphia in a tax collection action against Nathan Lerner. The Court held that Lerner waived his challenge to the underlying tax assessment by failing to timely pursue administrative remedies and by failing to preserve the relevant issue under Pennsylvania appellate procedure. The opinion also declined to create an exception to the exhaustion requirement based on the asserted lack of evidentiary support for the assessment.

Holdings

1. Lerner waived the issue because he did not argue in the trial court that Krug was inapplicable or that an exception to the exhaustion requirement applied, and he did not identify that issue in his Rule 1925(b) statement.
2. A taxpayer may not seek judicial resolution of a challenge to a Philadelphia tax assessment after failing to pursue the available administrative remedy before the Philadelphia Tax Review Board.
3. The court declined to create an exception to the exhaustion requirement based on the alleged lack of evidentiary support for Lerner's assessment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Lerner preserved a challenge to the trial court's reliance on Krug and the exhaustion requirement by raising that argument for the first time on appeal.
2. Whether a taxpayer who fails to exhaust the administrative remedy before the Philadelphia Tax Review Board may challenge the underlying tax assessment in a later collection action.
3. Whether the circumstances of the City's allegedly unsupported assessment warranted an exception to the exhaustion and waiver rules.

Disposition

affirmed