A Botetourt County retirement facility found out Friday that there's plenty of life left in its fight to regain its tax-exempt status.

The Supreme Court of Virginia announced that it will hear an appeal by The Glebe, a retirement community on U.S. 220 in Daleville, over its status as a tax-exempt religious and benevolent organization.

If the high court overturns a lower court ruling last year that stripped The Glebe of the status, the Daleville facility will not have to pay nearly $500,000 in property taxes and penalties to Botetourt County.

Lawyers representing Virginia Baptist Homes, The Glebe's parent company, made oral arguments last month in Richmond before a panel of three Supreme Court justices, and on Thursday, the panel ruled that the full court will examine the lower court ruling. Notice of the appeal was posted on the Supreme Court's Web site Friday morning.

In response to the high court's announcement, Randall Robinson, president of Virginia Baptist Homes, thanked residents and employees of The Glebe for their continued support of the organization's defense of its tax status.

"Our historical mission and religious and benevolent purpose have sustained us in this challenge, and we will continue to tell our story of 60 years of service and ministry to seniors across Virginia." Robinson said in a letter sent to The Glebe on Friday.

Botetourt County officials, however, said they think the lower court ruling against The Glebe will stand.

"We feel it's fair and justifiable for them to pay taxes like every other corporate citizen of Botetourt County," said Don Assaid, chairman of the county's board of supervisors. "We're hoping the state Supreme Court justices will see it that way as well."

Since The Glebe opened in 2005, Botetourt County has argued that it is a resort for wealthy retirees that doesn't provide charitable or religious services to its residents. Virginia Baptist Homes has maintained that a religious and benevolent tax exemption it has held for more than 30 years applies to all of its properties, including startups such as The Glebe that someday will offer reduced rates.

The county sued Virginia Baptist Homes over the dispute in 2006. Circuit Court Judge Michael Irvine sided with the county last year, ruling that the religious and benevolent exemption granted to Virginia Baptist Homes in 1976 by the General Assembly does not automatically apply to all its properties.

If the circuit court ruling stands, The Glebe will be required to pay nearly $493,000 in real estate taxes and penalties dating to the facility's opening in 2005. Annually, the facility would pay on average about $227,000 in taxes based on the current size of the facility, said Jay Etzler, Botetourt County's commissioner of revenue.

In granting the appeal, the court won't conduct a new trial. It will examine Irvine's ruling in the case to determine if any errors were made.

"There will be a series of events triggered" by the appeal being granted, said Frank Friedman, a lawyer with the Roanoke-based firm of Woods Rogers PLC. Friedman was hired by Botetourt County last year to represent the county in The Glebe case. He has argued a number of cases before the state Supreme Court.

"They'll file the first brief. We'll respond to it. They get to reply. Then there'll be arguments in front of the court," he said.

Robinson said in a statement Friday that Virginia Baptist Homes must file that first brief to the Supreme Court by April 8.

Friedman said oral arguments may not be heard until September.