Monroeville churches stuck in middle of legal battle between municipality and school district

Houses of worship in Monroeville have apparently fallen victim to a legal battle between the municipality and Gateway School District regarding rain.

In a lawsuit filed over a year ago, Gateway School District argues it should not have to pay a new fee to maintain Monroeville’s stormwater sewer system, which works to keep sewage out of waterways during heavy rainfall. Gateway’s fee for the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (known as MS4) amounts to around $90,000.

The case has remained dormant for months as other school districts join the case as interested parties, and attorneys continue to submit evidence to the court. But a vote by Monroeville council during a Sept. 8 meeting has stirred the pot by eliminating a 25% discount initially granted to houses of worship to help offset the MS4 dues.

At the same time, “it does improve our position in our lawsuit with Gateway, who’s trying to get out of paying about $90,000 in (MS4) fees per year,” said Bob Wratcher, Monroeville’s solicitor, at the Sept. 8 meeting.

The discount was removed by ordinance in a 4-2 vote. Deputy Mayor Greg Erosenko and councilman Tom Wilson dissented. Councilman Steve Wolfram was absent.

Councilman Ron Harvey said eliminating the fee discount was “unfortunate.” Erosenko called it a “sad reality” and Wilson called the entire lawsuit a “disaster for the school district.”

The MS4 program was established in Monroeville in October 2018. As a result, property owners, including houses of worship and other nonprofits, received bills for the fee – money that would pay for the municipality’s steep costs in maintaining and repairing aged storm sewer systems. Municipal officials said the program would raise $3.2 million a year to be used on flood reduction projects.

However, houses of worship were granted a 25% discount to the fee, so long as they could prove they were indeed a church or religious institution with certificates and state licenses.

The discount was not extended to other nonprofits, such as hospitals.

The school district received its $90,000 bill in January 2019, paid it in protest and immediately appealed the fee, arguing that state code exempts schools from such fees.

The code states, in part, “All school property … is made exempt from every kind of State, county, city, borough, township or other tax, as well as from all costs or expenses for paving, curbing, sidewalks, sewers, or other municipal improvements.”

When Wratcher responded to Gateway’s initial complaint, he pointed out that its MS4 dues were “significantly less than 1%” of the district’s overall budget of roughly $75 million.

He also said the MS4 fee is mandated by federal and state law to be assessed and collected on a uniform basis, based on the amount of impervious surface, like a parking lot or roof, a property has.

The school district responded to that argument by saying the fee is not imposed uniformly because of the discount the municipality gave houses of worship. Then, Sept. 8, Mayor Nick Gresock spoke with Mary Beth Cirucci, Gateway’s board president, before council’s vote. She said he asked her to consider striking Gateway’s argument about the discount being applied to houses of worship. He also warned her that council members would be “throwing the school district under the bus” if that language wasn’t removed from the lawsuit, Cirucci said.

Gresock confirmed he spoke with Cirucci and asked her to remove the district’s argument that relates to the discount given to houses of worship.

“I think the school district still could have challenged (the MS4 fee) without jeopardizing the discount to houses of worship,” he said. “I was just trying to avoid finger-pointing, which is not good for elected bodies. In that regard, I think we could all do better. But I think the simple solution would have been to remove that tertiary argument and have the rest be decided by the courts.”

Cirucci said she refused to take that part out of the lawsuit because it strengthens the district’s legal position. She said the fact that houses of worship received a discount was discriminatory against all nonprofits.

She said council eliminated the discount initially offered to houses of worship because Wratcher knew that part of the argument — that all property owners are imposed a fee uniformly — would not hold up in court.

“I even told (Mayor Nick Gresock) that if you settle the lawsuit with the school district and admit we do not owe this fee, the whole lawsuit goes away. Or (council) can redo the ordinance and exempt all nonprofits. Those are two very practical solutions, but they continue to blame the school district. It’s mind-boggling to me,” Cirucci said.

Further, she said any changes to the lawsuit have to be agreed upon by all involved in the lawsuit. According to court records, four other educational entities have joined the lawsuit as interested parties. Those include West Allegheny School District, Cornell School District, Allegheny Intermediate Unit’s Sunrise School and Forbes Road Career and Technology Center.

Coraopolis Water and Sewer Authority joined the lawsuit as an interested party.

Gateway school board vice president Rick McIntyre called the elimination of the fee discount for houses of worship a distraction to the fundamental issue.

“The discount is a tertiary argument, it’s not fundamental to the lawsuit itself, which is they’re in violation of state code by charging the district,” he said.

The school district’s attorney on the case, Chelsea Dice, agrees. Her father, Bruce, serves as the district’s solicitor and attends the school board meetings, but Chelsea Dice, of Bruce Dice and Associates, said she has taken on the case for the firm.

“Frankly, the underlying issue here is that case law and school code is clear,” Dice said, referencing the school code that states school properties are exempt from taxes, costs and expenses. She said the school district uses property taxes to pay for expenses.

“So you’re collecting taxes from people, and this stormwater fee, and then having the school district pay for the same thing. So taxpayers are paying twice,” Dice said.

Wratcher, the municipality’s solicitor, was not immediately available to comment.

The Rev. Bob Schaefer of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Monroeville said the 25% discount is a helpful lifeline. Eliminating it could just add salt to an already open financial wound in some churches.

“In my congregation, come budget time, this will be one more difficult thing we have to accommodate in an already financially difficult year. And it’s possible that in other churches this is the one thing they can’t accommodate,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said, most churches in the area understand the municipality’s MS4 program is a fee — not a tax.

“So tax-exempt organizations are not exempt. It’s a fee for a use,” Schaefer said. The pastor also serves as treasurer for the Monroeville Interfaith Ministerium, a coalition of faith groups in the area.

“We all believe it’s important for us to contribute to the community. So, by and large, we wanted to pay a fee like everybody else. It’s our responsibility as good neighbors. Just make sure the amount we’re asked to pay is not more than a business that can absorb those costs,” he said.

Court records do not show a hearing date for the case.

Chelsea Dice said the next step in the lawsuit is to coordinate with the other attorneys on the case to see if any of them still have evidence to submit to the court. If not, the attorneys will ask the court for a hearing date, she said.