Honaman v. Township of Lower Merion
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
No. 2582, C.D. 2009
January 31, 2011
The Commonwealth Court ruled that real estate tax records held by a township’s tax collector were not in the possession of the township and thus were not subject to the Right to Know Law.
Background
Richard Honaman submitted a Right to Know Law request for records to Lower Merion Township seeking records about tax payments for 18 Lower Merion addresses.
The township provided some records, but stated that real estate tax records were under the control of the Lower Merion tax collector’s office and not held by the township.
Honaman appealed to the Office of Open Records, which ordered the township to disclose the records.
On the township’s appeal, a county court reversed the OOR’s decision, and Honaman appealed to the Commonwealth Court.
Commonwealth Court Decision
The court held that the request was for records possessed by the tax collector, which is a separate agency from the township under state law.
The township did not possess or control the records. As a result, the court ruled, it properly denied the request for records.