Published Thursday, June 17, 1999 The U.S. Supreme Court denied hearing the Niles, Ohio, company's appeal to set aside a lower court's decision upholding the forced sale of its tax-delinquent Sharon land.
Berk's 23 acres were the site of the former Midland-Ross Corp. plant on South Dock Street. At the request of the Mercer County Tax Claim Bureau, Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Francis J. Fornelli in October 1997 ordered the land be sold to pay off back taxes. Such a forced sale is known as a judicial sale.
When Fornelli ordered the sale, Berk owed $754,000 in local back taxes which made it the largest delinquency on the county's tax books, according to the bureau. Berk had owed Sharon and Sharon School District taxes since 1990 and county taxes since 1994.
The judge rejected Berk's plea to stay the order pending an appeal.
As a result Berk tried to stop the sale by appealing the decision to Commonwealth Court. But that court rejected the appeal and a company owned by Shenango Valley Industrial Development Corp., Sharon Abandoned Land Acquisition and Development Corp., bought Berk's land for $10,000 at a judicial sale in January 1998.
Since then Berk tried to reverse the sale by appealing the decision. The state Commonwealth Court and state Supreme Court also rejected Berk's appeal, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as the last card.
In a simple, single-page order received by the county on Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court said Berk's petition was denied.
"It's good news the highest court of the land upheld the county's jurisdiction in this manner and gave that message to Berk,'' said Olivia Lazor Mercer County commissioner. "That means there is no other place to go other than suing us.''
Berk has already gone there.
In December 1997 Berk and its affiliated companies filed a suit in Mercer County Common Pleas Court seeking more than $1 million from local taxing bodies. The Tax Claim Bureau, the city of Sharon, Sharon School District and Mercer County Commissioners were named as defendants.
The case is still active but no court action has been made by Berk. The suit alleges the taxing bodies "failed to undertake sufficient investigation" into the facts and circumstances of the forced sale and, as a result, affected companies not responsible for the real estate taxes. The defendants actions were "willful and intentional and caused plaintiffs to suffer sever and irreparable damages to their business, including lost profits,'' according to the suit.
When the suit was filed Mercer County Solicitor Donald R. McKay called it "ridiculous.'' McKay was out of town Wednesday and was unavailable for comment.
Richard L. Goodman, Berk's attorney, didn't immediately return a message left at his office Wednesday.
Getting the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case faces stiff odds. The court agrees to hear arguments in about 1.8 percent of the 7,650 appeal requests it receives on average each year, according to the court's public information office.
SVIDC has said it wants to develop the former Berk land.
"We have been formulating our plans to develop the land and move forward with those plans,'' said Robert Jazwinski, SVIDC chairman. "We're excited about getting the project started and improving the whole appearance of the property.''
