Court Backs Tax Break For Sewer Treatment Plant

(CN) – A sewer treatment plant at Franklin Pierce University qualifies for a tax exemption, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled. The nearby town of Rindge objected when the Department of Environmental Services gave the tax exemption to the university for an upgrade to the system.     Rindge argued that the exemption was designed to control pollution, not manage wastewater.      Justice Broderick disagreed. “Managing wastewater reduces, controls, or eliminates pollution caused by raw human waste,” Broderick wrote.     Rindge also argued that the university was receiving unequal treatment, but Broderick pointed out that the treatment plant benefits everyone in the area.     “If the university did not build and operate its own wastewater treatment facility, Rindge could have been required to do so,” Broderick wrote.