In Marchlen v. Township of Mt. Lebanon, 560 Pa. 453, 746 A.2d 566 (2000), the Supreme Court considered, as a matter of first impression, whether stock options issued to an employee constituted compensation taxable by Mt. Lebanon as earned income under the LTEA. Louis Marchlen received non-qualified stock options from his employer, ALCOA, in 1984 and 1985. Mr. Marchlen did not include the market spread at the time he exercised the options in 1994 and 1995 on either his 1994 or 1995 Mt. Lebanon tax return. The Township treasurer informed Mr. Marchlen that the recognized gain from the exercise of the options should have been included as earned income on both of the returns in question. On appeal, the trial court reversed the treasurer and held that the income was not earned income but investment income, and upon further appeal, this court affirmed . Our Supreme Court, however, concluded that, "by the terms of the LTEA itself and Mt. Lebanon's own definition of earned income, we must therefore agree . . . that the stock options in this case constitute a form of 'incentive payments' or 'other compensation received by a person . . . for services rendered . . . whether in cash or in property . . . .' Accordingly, the stock options are taxable as earned income under the LTEA." 560 Pa. at 459, 746 A.2d at 569.