Pennsylvania CU Assn. Enters Litigation Over FOM

The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association has entered field of membership litigation in support of the order issued by Secretary of Banking A. William Schenck III approving a community charter for the five-county Philadelphia area. Schenck's Dec. 22, 2004, order approved the community charter application of TruMark Financial Credit Union and provided community chartering guidance to Freedom Credit Union and Corry-Jamestown Credit Union. Freedom has since been granted a community charter and Corry-Jamestown's application is pending. That approval was appealed by the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, which has challenged Trumark's ongoing tax-exempt status by asserting that community-chartered credit unions should pay Pennsylvania's Mutual Thrift Tax, a tax levied upon mutual savings banks. "While we believe there is little merit to the bankers' taxation argument, it requires a rigorous defense by our Association on behalf of all Pennsylvania credit unions and their members," said PCUL CEO Jim McCormack.