C.O. Falter Construction Company v. Towanda Municipal Authority

In C.O. Falter Construction Company v. Towanda Municipal Authority, 149 Pa. Commw. 74, 614 A.2d 328 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1992), the appellant was a disappointed bidder on a construction contract for the wastewater treatment plant for the Borough of Towanda. The appellant filed a complaint in equity, seeking mandamus and injunctive relief to restrain the Borough's award of the contract to the successful bidder and to compel the Borough to award the appellant with the contract. In sustaining the Borough's preliminary objections to the complaint, the trial court in that case concluded that the appellant was not a taxpayer in the Borough and, therefore, lacked standing. The trial court also concluded that the appellant failed to exhaust its administrative remedies. The Court affirmed the trial court, noting that if the court regarded the disappointed bidder apart from its status as a disappointed bidder (as only a state and federal, but not local taxpayer), it lacked a direct, immediate, and substantial interest and causal connection necessary to provide standing. C.O. Falter, 614 A.2d at 331.