By an 8-0 vote last night, the Tyrone Borough Council approved the adoption of ordinance 1199 that establishes a LERTA zone in Tyrone Borough.
During the public hearing to discuss the adoption of the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance zone, Tyrone resident Bill Fink had questions for the council about the adoption of the ordinance.
“Earlier this year when the KOEZ (Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone) was adopted, there were some comments made about recouping the money for the KOEZ losses,” said Fink. “I was wondering how the LERTA and KOEZ together may impact the taxpayers if at all?”
Mayor Stoner started her response by notifying Fink that the borough had not yet been notified if the KOEZ zone had been accepted by the state.
“The LERTA is an entirely different program than the KOEZ,” said the mayor. “KOEZ is a total tax exemption and the LERTA is a reduced tax exemption over a five-year period on new construction or expansion. KOEZ is for industrial properties and the LERTA can be for other economic development besides industrial. For example, if Gardners Candies wanted to expand, they could get a tax break on their expansion, but it would be on the expansion only.
“It wouldn’t be on the rest of the facility. If someone built a new structure, it would be acceptable under LERTA. The zone covers almost the entire borough. I can’t speak for the rest of council, but obviously we have supported both of these tax breaks.
“You can’t be competitive. We can’t be competitive. Look how long our industrial park has set empty. We may be on the verge of getting something in our industrial park. If we are accepted into the KOEZ, we are going to have an industry or business in the industrial park. You can’t compete with someone to the north of you and to the south of you who are giving tax breaks and we are not. You can’t be be short sighted either.
“You have to be able to look and have a vision beyond now. I wish Phyllis (borough financial manager Phyllis Garhart) were here to give the exact figure of what will be given up in tax money. I think she told me today that the figure on the Dixon property in the industrial park is $1,200. That is a small price to pay for an industry that would hire 70-80 people who in turn would pay taxes and in five years would be paying full taxes.”
Fink followed up.
“The reason I asked that is because at a council meeting some time ago, it was brought up about how to recoup the loss of tax money because of the KOEZ. This past week, I had a conversation with Bellwood mayor Jim Bonsell and they also have passed the LERTA zone and KOEZ. They have a pretty safe tax base there. I was wondering if these tax breaks will have any impact on the taxpayer?”
“If you are asking if we looking at any tax increases?” the mayor asked. “We certainly aren’t looking at that. Who knows what the future brings. We are certainly not looking at that (a tax increase). I am not going to say somewhere down the line we won’t. Everyone is in trouble. We are just as stable as Bellwood.”
Fink continued to press the council for a straight answer concerning the recouping of funds lost because of the passing of the tax breaks for businesses.
“I believe that your approach here is a valid approach,” said Fink. “Like you said, you are surrounded. My concern is that you are working the budget and we are looking taxes here and I was wondering about the impact on the taxpayers.”
The mayor responded.
“The business that we are looking into getting into Bill Dixon’s property is something Bill and I have been working on for two or three years,” said the mayor. “They were enticed to the park that is being built in Antis Township by ABCD. We re-approached them because the tap-in fees and all the ammenities are so much less here for a business operating in the borough than to go outside the borough. If you look at the big picture and take off the near-sighted glasses, it is nothing but a plus for the borough.”
The public hearing concerning the LERTA zone was concluded and the zone was approved by an 8-0 vote by the council.
Council accepted the resignation of Jeffrey Watson from the I-99 Enterprise zone and appointed Jennifer Bryan as the council’s representative to be zone.
Next month, council will receive the proposed budget for the water, sewer and general fund’s for the first reading. The budget will need to be approved in the December meeting.
