 In 1993 , the Washington County Board of Assessment ruled that the 87 properties owned by the college were exempt from property and real estate taxes . After an appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals to reverse their earlier decision was denied , the city appealed the Washington County Court of Common Pleas . On August 5 , 1994 , Judge Thomas J. Terputac reversed the board 's decision , ruling in Order No. 93 @-@ 7033 that the college did not qualify for tax @-@ exempt status . According to the trial court , Washington & Jefferson College was not a " purely public charity " , failing four of five criteria in the Hospital Utilization Project case . Specifically , Judge Terputac opined that the college had been founded as a purely public charity , but had morphed into an " enterprise of big business . " The college appealed to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court , which overturned Judge Terputac 's decision on September 15 , 1995 , in a decision written by Judge James R. Kelley . According to that court , Washington & Jefferson College did satisfy the requirements to be considered a " purely public charity . " Judges Bernard L. McGinley , Doris A. Smith @-@ Ribner , and Dan Pellegrini dissented . The City of Washington appealed that decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court , which affirmed the lower court 's decision on November 20 , 1997 , in a decision written by Justice John P. Flaherty . According to the court , the lower court was correct in concluding that the college did in fact satisfy the five requirements for an entity to be considered a " purely public charity , " a standard that was set out in the Hospital Utilization Project case : " 1 ) advance a charitable purpose ; 2 ) donate or render gratuitously a substantial portion of its services ; 3 ) benefit a substantial and indefinite class of persons who are legitimate subjects of charity ; 4 ) relieve the government of some of its burden ; and 5 ) operate entirely free from private profit motive . " The court said that " the record demonstrates that W & J fulfills all of these requirements . " Most persuasive was the fact that the college 's benefits were open to all and that those served were members of a charitable class . The dissent by Justice Russell M. Nigro did not state that he thought that the college should not be tax @-@ exempt , only that the rest of the court had " so broadly construed its requirements that any private college or university can satisfy the test and obtain tax @-@ exempt status . " 
