We are living in extraordinary times. The wheels of justice are, for a time, pausing. On April 1, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued the Second Supplemental Order (“Order”) relating to judicial operations as affected by the coronavirus crisis through April 30th. This Order affects every landlord, mortgage holder and taxing authority in Pennsylvania.
Read moreThe Gig Economy Just Got Much Tougher in New Jersey
New Jersey just made life very difficult for all employers in every industry, specifically small businesses. In New Jersey, business owners can now be criminally charged and fined up to $5,000.00 per day for misclassifying workers as independent contractors.
Running a small business can be very difficult. One of the issues that employers of all sizes struggle with is whether to classify workers as statutory employees or independent contractors. Statutory employees are paid on a W-2 basis, whereby the employer withholds federal and state payroll taxes. W2 employees have certain rights and remedies available to them under state and federal law. For example, the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law is one of those laws.
Independent contractors, on the other hand, negotiate their work relationships with employers and have those relationships governed by contract. Those contracts can provide the worker with rights and remedies. That is one of the points under attack by this overreach in New Jersey- the freedom of contract.
Read moreNonprofit Law Update: Princeton University Settles Taxpayer Litigation
Princeton University had been engaged in a years long state court battle with a group of Princeton Borough residents who were challenging the University's tax exempt status.
The gist of the lawsuit was that the residents alleged that because Princeton University distributes millions of dollars of profit from patent royalties to its faculty that the University is not entitled to claim exemption from local property tax. The Plaintiffs' theory was that they all ended up paying more in taxes because of the University's exemption.
The University reached settlement with the resident group, and agreed to:
- contribute $2 million in 2017 and $1.6 million in the following five years to a fund that will distribute the money to Princeton residents who received a homestead benefit under the New Jersey Homestead Property Tax Credit Act;
- give $416,700 each year from 2017 through 2019 to the Witherspoon Jackson Development Corporation, which helps fund housing for economically disadvantaged residents; and
- make a $3.5 million annual contribution to the town of Princeton in 2021 and 2022.
These are large dollars to be sure but obviously represented a way for the University to control the outcome of the litigation. The loss of real estate tax exemption would have cost the University vastly more than the settlement amount.