Scranton filed legal notice today that the city will appeal a county court’s rejection of an Act 205 commuter tax.

Today was the deadline for an appeal to be filed, and the city did so to preserve its appeal rights, said city solicitor Jason Shrive.

However, if Gov. Tom Corbett signs into law revisions to Act 47 that would require the city to impose an Act 205 wage tax on both city residents and nonresident commuters, the city would withdraw the appeal, Mr. Shrive said.

While the governor is expected to sign those changes into law, he has not done so yet and the city filed the notice of appeal to protect its right to appeal, Mr. Shrive said.

“We would appeal the decision if there weren’t these changes to the law,” Mr. Shrive said. “In the event the governor signs the law (and the changes take effect), we would withdraw the appeal.”

The commuter tax, which had been set to take effect Oct. 1, was struck down Sept. 29 by Senior Judge John Braxton of Philadelphia.

Scranton had sought the commuter tax under state Act 205 pension law to shore up the city’s severely distressed pension system with a 0.75 percent earned-income tax on people who work in Scranton but live elsewhere.

Ruling in a lawsuit against the city by nonresident petitioners, the judge decided that Act 205 doesn’t give the city power to exclusively levy a tax on commuters, and such an additional wage tax would have to be levied on both nonresidents and residents.

The revisions to Act 47 that were recently passed by the state Legislature would codify the judge’s ruling, but the governor has not yet signed that bill.

Bill Jones, attorney for the petitioners, said that if the city’s appeal proceeds he would file a cross-appeal. That would based upon his arguments that the city failed to give proper public notice of the commuter tax, and that the city had no underlying wage tax for 2013 and 2014 on which to base an extra commuter tax.

Had the Act 205 commuter tax gone into effect, a nonresident earning $30,000 a year would pay a $225 commuter tax; those earning a $40,000 salary would pay $300; someone with a $50,000 salary would pay $375.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com, @jlockwoodTT on Twitter