The College is fighting the state of New Hampshire to gain tax-exempt status for the University Press of New England.
The Lebanon-based University Press, which is owned and operated by the College, applied for tax exempt status last year but was denied by the Lebanon Board of Tax Assessors, the Valley News reported.
The case is currently being heard by New Hampshire's Board of Tax and Land Appeals. Thomas Johnson, associate director of the University Press, said he expects to hear a decision soon.
Johnson said the decision may be "precedent-setting."
Dartmouth officials applied for tax-exempt status because the University Press "operates as a division of the College and publishes scholarly work," according to the Valley News.
The University Press, although operated by Dartmouth, works with a consortium of other schools including Brown, Brandeis, Tufts and Wesleyan Universities, the Universities of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and Middlebury College.
Johnson said the University Press should be granted tax-exempt status because it is basically a "department of Dartmouth College."
He said all the people who work for the University Press are employees of Dartmouth and receive benefits from the College.
Peter Grenquist '53,the executive director of the Association of American University Presses, told the Valley News, "I am not aware of any situation in which a university press is subject to local taxes."
But Lebanon officials claim the University Press of New England publishes more than just "scholarly work" and should be forced to pay taxes.
"They're printing books about furniture and they're doing a Hardscrabble series -- a New England fiction series," Lebanon City Assessor Norman Bernaiche told the Valley News. "What does that have to do with education? Why should Lebanon taxpayers subsidize colleges throughout New England?"
Before moving to its present Lebanon location in 1993, the University Press of New England was located in Hanover, where it also paid taxes.
But Johnson said the company did not request tax-exempt status because the "bill was so small."
According to Johnson the University Press is now required to pay about five times what it used to pay in taxes.
"The $16,000 or so [in local taxes] we are paying every year is a significant part of our budget," he said.
The majority of the University Press's revenue comes from the book sales and subsidies it receives from other sources like the 10 consortium universities, according to Johnson.
