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| Catherine Allen |
Ironically, their decision is a direct reaction to a letter sent by Allentown Mayor Pawlowski, asking them for their support. It appears to have had the opposite effect.
Several Council members seemed a little disturbed that the letter was sent to their homes.
Council President Catherine Allen argued, "I really don't think it's anything that any of the boroughs - especially us - want to say, 'Yes, this is OK,' and we'll lose all of our money."
Council member Bonnie LaBar pointed out that Allentown is basing its calculations on the first quarter of the year when the least amount of EIT revenue is realized. "You won't actually be getting all the money back," she observed.
It will cost Bangor $5,000 to join the litigation, based on its population of 5,273 people.
Bangor is the 17th municipal government to challenge the NIZ. Whitehall-Coplay School District and the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors have also voted to intervene.
Developer Abe Atiyeh has filed a separate suit that mirrors the litigation filed by the townships.
33 comments:
I am proud of my fellow councilpersons for voting to join the NIZ law suit. We may live in the "boonies" as the King would say but we know a scam when we see one. I guess we won't be getting Christmas cards from Big Ed this year if ever. I am hopeful the people of Bangor will understand why we took this action to safeguard their local tax structure from being coopted by the City of Atown.
I understand the rational but why are these smaller municipalities joining and paying $5k in legal fees? They probably don't even collect they much in EIT from Allentown let alone the NIZ. They should all get behind the State Association of Township's & Municipalities lawsuit. The lawyers wont care they will make out pretty good.
The implications extend beyond the Allentown NIZ. Others attempt similar schemes. It's $5K well spent. Lawyers always make out. They were involved in the creation of the mess and will benefit by every step of its hashing out. That's what lawyers do. Bangor and the other municipalities didn't ask for this fight. It was brought to them by Pat Browne. Bangor is a beautiful, historic borough that could use its own revitalization, which would create a magnate for the surrounding "boonies." How about Allentown helping Bangor? The wealthy West Enders can afford it.
Sometimes it is important to have skin in the game. Everyone is looking towards Hanover & Bethlehem Townships for leadership. Why let someone else fight for you when it is WRONG.
PSATS only represents townships, not boroughs.
BANGOR ROCKS!!
Did I miss something? Where was the newspaper coverage on the Bangor decision? Didn't find it in either local newspaper today, or on their websites.
There was no press coverage of a meeting attended by over 50 people. Go figure.
Both newspapers wonder why the readership is down, advertizing is down and their employment is a fraction of what it used to be.
The reason - they both SUCK!!!
I'm sick and tired of trying to get the papers to cover Bangor/Slate Belt issues. They practically want you to write the story for them and then want the credit also. What do you expect..out here in the "boonies"!
So out of the 5K who live in Bangor I wonder how many people actually work in the NIZ. That doesn't really matter, everyone is doing it, let's hop on the bandwagon and join suit. This zone that was created by Browne is the best thing that happened for the city since 1922 when PPL tower was built. That was when people, mostly immigrants from Europe cared about others and their community. Now their children who haves moved out of the city and into the burbs to live that American dream are the ones too busy with their own personal lives to recognize the state senators elected in their municipality that passed this bill when Browne created it. Go complains to your elected officials who passed this law and when your American dream wasn't being taken away by a few tax dollars that you'll eventually get back anyway. Ohh it's so much easier to hop on the bandwagon now and blame the King when all of you suburbans should be complaining to your elected official who voted with Browne. Haha so much easier to pull the weeds when they finally sprout up next to all your roses.
@ 6:21. Really well said. What is it about moving to suburbia that completely disconnects people from caring about others--to become fixated on a few dollars in taxes. It's really sad. Bernie, you posted something today about how the basis of religion is love. Love for the other--christian charity--all that. Here we sit in the suburbs with all the money and all the power and just want to consolidate even more and disconnect from poor people downtown.
What type of love is that?
Our immigrant fathers would be sad to see us so inward looking; so disconnected from our total community; so unwilling to invest in the public infrastructure that makes a people great and restores its spirit. It's frankly sad and this blog is a monument to that decay and negativity.
You are assuming that pplaces like bangor are better off than Allentown. That little borough could use your help. So could Freemansburg, Easton, West Easton, Stockertown, tatamy, Northampton, etc. I do ot see Allentownw reaching out a helping hand. I see it stealing, which is one of the 4 tenets mentioned by Sister Joan.
First of all, how much do you anticipate being "stolen" from Bangor? I'm almost willing to bet that they don't have any skin in the game whatsoever, i.e., no NIZ workers.
Also, who says the NIZ belongs to the home municipalities. Many argue it was "stolen" from the work municipalities way back when.
But, even so, Bangor would be virtually nothing without the greater Lehigh Valley anchoring it. It depends on the cities creating enough density to support the various trades and culture that support most of the people who live in Bangor.
Also, suburban development around Bangor has enjoyed tremendous government subsidy over many decades which made it feasibly cheap to live in the burbs and drained mid-size cities like Allentown. Just as an example, if gasoline cost $9 a gallon, the going rate in Europe, it would cost nearly 2 billion dollars a year more to drive in the lehigh valley. That's nearly an extra $2,200 per person (or about 11.6 million for all Bangor residents). (Also, compare that 2-billion a year benefit to the burbs compared to the 4 million or so in EIT withholding. It's not even close.)
I bet if we had to pay that price for gas, you would see far fewer people living somewhere different from where they worked. Yet, we don't collect that money which allows places like Bangor to exist and which drains Allentown. While Bangor didn't create this policy, they are complicit with and benefit from the system and should recognize how it harms their neighbors and should be willing to shoulder some of the burden.
Let me add a little more to the analysis before you call me insane. Let's also recall the homeowner mortgage interest deduction which goes almost exclusively to suburban homes. That represents a net income gain to the valley of about 294 million a year.
So, we have 2 billion is gas subsidies coming in and about 0.3 billion of mortgage interest deductions. That means an extra 2.3 billion retained by suburban municipalities here in the valley. According to the conservative tax foundation, local Pa. municipalities collect about 7% of personal income in taxes. So, 0.07*2.3 billion = 161 Million / year in tax revenue collected by municipalities based on only some suburban subsidies. That's, frankly, a lot of extra cash the suburbs get based on federal tax structure / political choices.
9:31, Your smug comment tells me why this is never gong to be steeled.
I'm just saying that outlying townships have gotten the sweet end of the deal for decades. And asking that they recognize that fact and try to deal honestly with Allentown. What is smug about that? I'm sorry if that is an inconvenient fact and doesn't work into the picture you paint about some grand theft.
Bangor is NOT a wealthy, outlying township. It is a small borough, a urban core suffering from many of the same problems afflicting cities.
" And asking that they recognize that fact and try to deal honestly with Allentown. What is smug about that? I'm sorry if that is an inconvenient fact and doesn't work into the picture you paint about some grand theft."
For one thing, it's untrue. For decades, cities have been the beneficiaries of outright grants for COPS, urban blight, revitalization, etc. The Governor, when he comes to the LV, does not bring cardboard checks to Bangor. They go to Allentown, Easton and bethlehem. The cities get the transportation dollars, too.
After holding your hand out and taking whatever you can, you have the arrogance to criticize a small borough for objecting to the outright theft of its EIT.
Yeah, Allentown gets grants and so do the municipalities. For instance, South Whitehall gets about about 8% of its funding from grants and gifts. Allentown gets about 12% That 4% difference as part of a 90 million dollar budget ($ 3.6 million) in no way makes up for the billions and billions being directed for the benefit of suburban residents (or hundreds of millions in increased suburban tax revenue). It's like trying to compare apples and oranges. The tax benefits accorded to the burbs are orders of magnitude greater than what Allentown gets. That's the gorilla in the room.
p.s. I live in the townships and I am outraged at the fact that we are being so greedy it is unbelievable that our elected officials are so callous.
If you add up all the subsidies, direct and indirect, cities win hands down. That's just the way it is. That's probably the way it should be. But it's dishonest for you then to argue that the communities outside of Allentown for some reason have to give them even more.
"I live in the townships and I am outraged"
Blah, blah, blah. You can feign outrage, but you apparently are unwilling to walk the walk. If urban life is so wonderful, move to Allentown.
You must be on crack if you believe cities are winning on the subsidy front. Even if my numbers are off by a factor of 10 the suburbs are still winning.
Just because a tax subsidy doesn't show up on a balance doesn't mean that it doesn't influence how a community develops. Imagine if the federal government didn't finance the interstate system. America would look pretty damn different but the interstate system certainly didn't show up on local municipalities balance sheets. Same with our non-existent gasoline excise tax and mortgage interest deduction.
I understand you can score a lot of crack in Allentown. There is no question that the cities win on the subsidy front, hands down. You are missing quite a few of them. I'll dispell this disinformation in a future post.
What tax subsidies / policies help Allentown but don't exist on the city's balance sheet?
There are numerous and I will detail them in a future post. There is subsidized housing, enabling city residents to use their income at other city business. Food stamps. There are numerous subsidies made available to the cities that are not needed as much in other communities. You mention the mortgage interest deduction, but forget about these kinds of subsidies. That's why your argument is flawed.
Like I say, even if I am wrong by a factor of 10x, burbs still come out ahead. So, add up your numbers and we'll see.
I'm @6:21 nice argument loved the apples to oranges line and numbers. And move on into the city in phase 3 when they put the luxury apartments in downtown, I can't wait to upgrade my apartment here. I'm saying it takes believers who want to make Allentown change. The attention the Bernman puts on the NIZ is as necessary as his drink, and townships should stand up but this is getting out of hand. Where's the love at fellas - this law just snuck through the cracks with thousands of dollars behind the scenes the way politics are played - and now everyone + a school district which is humorous, undoubtedly should question, but dropping lawsuits because they got duped for their tax dollars because all these senators they elect voted for this NIZ is funny. It's a game and if your not cheating your not trying right?
Bangor does have people in the NIZ. The real point is not so much the present lost EIT..but the FUTURE losses. We could see a population explosion in the Slate Belt under certain conditions..people would prefer to live here and work in Atown. Then what? It's a slippery slope and you have to have vision and anticipate as best you can. The NIZ is a greedy scheme that needs to be stopped in it's tracks!
And the pols who voted for this scam will be called to answer soon. Vote them all out!
We have put into the suit what we would lose in EIT the first year. A NO brainer!
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