Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health has filed a court complaint against the city after portions of some of its facilities were ruled as no longer eligible for property tax exemption, the health system said Aug. 25.
The complaint involves some of the system's facilities at Whiting Hill in Brewer, where third party entities such as Quest Diagnostics operate. Quest provides services exclusively to its cancer patients, the health system said.
The city's assessor is also challenging the tax-exempt status of another building housing a "small group" of Optum employees. Brewer Health transferred 1,400 of its employees to Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Optum in January.
Despite multiple discussions with the city, Northern Light said it now had no option other than to go down the legal route.
"We are good neighbors, have invested in the community, and employ hundreds of people at our Brewer Professional Center, all of whom work exclusively in support of direct patient care and our charitable non-profit mission," Suzanne Spruce, senior vice president at Northern Light, said in a statement.