After a year's worth of wrangling with project supporters over the proposed downtown hotel/convention center, Lancaster County commissioners finally will have a court hear their arguments.

Monday, the county's special counsel, Howard Kelin, will appear before a panel of Commonwealth Court judges in Philadelphia.

The commissioners' goal is to compel the state Department of Community and Economic Development to rule on whether Lancaster city under the Smithgall administration last year violated guidelines for the Act 23 program, which would provide essential funds for the $137.8 million project.

County Commissioner Molly Henderson said Monday the court isn't being asked to rule whether the city's agreement is illegal, but to force the state Department of Community and Economic Development to do so.

"I believe the Commonwealth Court should require DCED to do its job and review the documents and transactions it approves," Henderson said.

Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the department, was not available for comment Monday.

State Sen. Gibson Armstrong, a Republican who represents the city and supports the project, said the commissioners are trying to delay the project to the point where construction would become unaffordable.

"They have nothing, but to just let a building stand there dilapidated forever," Armstrong said, referring to the former Watt & Shand department store, where the complex would be built.

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray, who succeeded Charlie Smithgall in January, also criticized the county's continued attempts to block construction of the hotel/convention center.

"If they want to delay the project, it's going to cost taxpayers more and more," he said. "I recognize there's an element of risk for us, but if it's the way we have to improve downtown Lancaster, I don't see many alternatives to doing it."

Penn Square Partners, Lancaster County Convention Center Authority and Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster plan to build the hotel/convention center on Penn Square.

Part of the project's complex financial plan -- which combines private funds with about $100 million in public money -- includes annual grants and potential property tax breaks under Act 23, the Infrastructure and Facilities Improvement Program.

The funding program allows the private user, in this case, Penn Square Partners, to use new state sales and income taxes generated by the hotel annually for 20 years to pay off construction debt.

The city, through its redevelopment authority, has agreed to own the proposed hotel. Act 23 requires the project be owned by a public entity.

The city also would float a $24 million construction bond backed by future Penn Square Partners lease payments.

The city has agreed that if the hotel is deemed taxable by the county's assessment office after the Marriott is open, it would cover any shortfall in the partnership's lease payments and the property taxes due.

City attorneys under the Smithgall administration argued that because the hotel would be publicly owned, the property would be exempt from taxes.

It's not clear, however, that Act 23 guidelines support the city's point of view. Act 23 takes into account that a project receiving the grants would be publicly owned and requires the private user "timely pay all Commonwealth and local taxes and fees."

On this point, Henderson and fellow county Commissioner Dick Shellenberger feel the language of Act 23 is clear. "It says what it says," Shellenberger said Monday. "You can't have it both ways."

The county wants the court to compel the Department of Community and Economic Development to decide whether the city's agreement violates the act.

"Obviously, if Penn Square Partners was convinced the hotel was not taxable, they wouldn't have insisted the city guarantee to pay the tax if it is taxable," Henderson said.

DCED officials are reluctant to make a ruling, saying their job is to make sure the city filed the proper paperwork, not decide the legality of the agreement, the commissioners said. If the state or the court rules the city's agreement fails to meet the guidelines, it could have ramifications for the project. Penn Square Partners has said it cannot afford to contribute $35 million toward hotel construction and pay property taxes.

Armstrong said the commissioners' efforts are coming at a late hour. At a convention center authority board meeting Wednesday, the board is expected to award demolition and site-preparation contracts. "This battle is over," Armstrong said. "They are lining up people for jobs."

Gray said it was pointless to litigate the project before it is even built. Whether the building is taxable will be determined by the county's assessment office after the hotel is constructed.

Penn Square Partners is composed of general partner Penn Square General Corp., a High Associates affiliate, and limited partners Fulton Bank and Lancaster Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News.