Judge rejects Uhrichsville request to dismiss Dennison lawsuit over income tax
NEW PHILADELPHIA ― A judge has rejected Uhrichsville's request to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Dennison over disputed income tax payments.
In a decision dated Aug. 10, Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Judge Michael Ernest wrote that Dennison could prove a set of facts that would entitle the village to relief.
Ernest wrote that a case may be dismissed when the court accepts all factual allegations as true, when the court draws all reasonable inferences in favor of the side not seeking the dismissal, and when the court concludes beyond doubt that no provable set of facts warrants relief.
More:Dennison sues Uhrichsville over income tax revenue from high school staff
Uhrichsville's administration contends the city has not breached the tax-sharing agreement, but has properly exercised its right to terminate the pact.
In a July 5 hearing, Uhrichsville's lawyer Catherine Strauss asked the judge to dismiss the suit filed by the village of Dennison over the agreement between the two municipalities. Dennison's legal team of Kevin Lundholm and Patrick Williams argued against dismissal.
Until 2020, Uhrichsville paid 37% of city income taxes collected from Claymont High School employees to Dennison under terms of a 1998 agreement between the two communities. The pact settled a tussle between the neighboring towns over where their new high school would be built. Prior to the consolidation that created Claymont, each had its own high school.
The high school was built on land annexed to Uhrichsville. It opened in 2001.
The tax agreement is expressed in a "letter of intent" signed by officials of both municipalities.
Dennison contends that Uhrichsville has breached the mutually agreed-upon contract by failing to make payments.
Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.
On Twitter: @nmolnarTR
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Judge rejects Uhrichsville request to dismiss Dennison's tax suit
