## Facts

- Homeowners Lucy and Vincent Matarazzo asked the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County to shut off water service to their vacant residence.
- An Authority employee indicated the shutoff would occur, and the Authority sent a bill marked as a “final statement.”
- The Authority did not shut off the water, and during severe cold weather the home’s pipes froze and burst, causing flooding and damage to the structure and personal property.
- The homeowners sued the Authority asserting “detrimental reliance” (promissory estoppel) and sought damages exceeding $30,000.
- The Authority filed preliminary objections (demurrer) asserting governmental immunity under the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act.

## Issues

1. Whether the homeowners’ “detrimental reliance”/promissory estoppel claim, based on the Authority’s failure to shut off water service and resulting property damage, sounded in tort and was barred by local-agency immunity.
2. Whether the “utility service facilities” exception to immunity in 42 Pa. C.S. § 8542(b)(5) applied to damage caused by frozen and burst residential pipes not owned by, or located in a right-of-way of, the Authority.

## Decision

- The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (en banc) affirmed the dismissal of the claim against the Municipal Authority.
- The court treated the claim as sounding in tort because it alleged negligent performance of a public service and sought tort-type property damages.
- The court held that no exception to governmental immunity applied, including the utility service facilities exception.
- Accordingly, the Authority remained immune from suit on the pleaded theory.

## Legal Principles

- Courts evaluate governmental-immunity questions by the substance of the duty alleged and the nature of the damages sought, not the label placed on the cause of action.
- A local agency is immune from tort liability under 42 Pa. C.S. §§ 8541–8542 unless the claim falls within a specific statutory exception.
- A claim alleging negligent execution of a duty owed generally to the public or all customers, resulting in physical property damage, is treated as a tort claim even if pleaded as promissory estoppel/detrimental reliance.
- The “utility service facilities” exception in 42 Pa. C.S. § 8542(b)(5) does not apply to privately owned residential pipes inside a home that are not owned by the local agency and not located within the agency’s rights-of-way.

## Conclusion

The court held that the homeowners’ reliance-based pleading could not convert an alleged negligent failure to perform ordinary water-service shutoff into a non-tort claim, and because the alleged damage involved private residential plumbing outside the statutory exceptions, the Municipal Authority was entitled to governmental immunity and the complaint was properly dismissed.


Matarazzo v. Millers Mut. Grp., Inc., 927 A.2d 689 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2007)