The Wilson Area School District and Wilson Borough Council unanimously voted in favor of granting a tax benefit called a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance, or LERTA, to the potential buyer of the old Dixie Cup factory in Wilson Borough. The developer--in his own words--plans to use the 640,000 sq ft site mostly as a warehouse. While the old factory has been in desperate need of redevelopment for almost 40 years, this site is located between two schools, the Easton Area High School and the Wilson Area High School, and is down the road from the Wilson Borough Elementary School. For anyone who has driven along South 25th Street between Route 22 and William Penn Highway, you know the corridor is already heavily congested. Add in the increased truck traffic from this new warehouse and you have a perfect recipe for more traffic, worse air quality, and an overall reduced quality of life for residents around the development, including the students at the local schools.
While the school district and borough have already weighed in, the Northampton County Council must also vote on whether to grant a tax benefit for warehouse--a use that has increasingly worsened air quality and traffic conditions in the Lehigh Valley. The Dixie Cup must be redeveloped, but the restoration of the building should not be at the cost of the surrounding communities.
Northampton County taxpayers deserve better.
Northampton County Council must vote NO on the LERTA resolution for this project.
Northampton County Council is slated to vote on whether to extend a tax break in Thursday. Should they approve it, Executive Lamont McClure has vowed to veto the measure.
Republican Council members have signaled a willingness to provide a NJ developer with a tax break for a warehouse. Council member John Brown reasoned that such an incentive is the only way the hulking factory can be redeveloped. But Brown was unaware that Allentown businessman Nat Hyman, who specializes in converting old factories into apartments, has been trying to purchase the property from Joe Reibman. Hyman, unlike most developers, has no interest in government handouts. Brown was also unaware that Reibman is relying on this government handout to catch up on $400,000 in back taxes owed on this property. Finally, Brown must be unaware that Reibman has already had the benefoit of a TIF, and was unable to sell. He was unable to sell with a KOZ, the mother of all tax breaks. In the meantime, the Dixie Cup continues to depreciate in value.
Republican Council members have been joined by Democrat Kerry Myers, who apparently thinks it's perfectly fine to provide a NJ developer with a tax break for the last thing we need - another warehouse. Never mind an insulting and condescending presentation by Wilson Borough Solicitor Stan Margle.
"Traffic is the wave of the future; there's nothing we can do about it," declaims Myers. I see. So we might as well give tax breaks for warehouses, I guess. "[P]ollution is never going away," he adds. So we might as well give a few more kids asthma, I guess. If this is the way Myers feels, his vote for mobile air pollution monitors was a vote to waste money.
15 comments:
Tax incentives like this are terrible public policy. This is going to take away money from public schools to give away to a company to redevelop land to be used in a way that will heavily strain local infrastructure for years to come, without making up for in in taxes.
There should be a 10% up-front tax on large commercial plots of land like this. A developer buys the plot and that tax immediately goes into an investment fund that the city can tap any time it needs to redevelop an out-of-use structure that the owner no longer has the funds to deal with (could be an abandoned gas station, old factory, office building full of asbestos, whatever). That way the city can prescribe how it wants the land to be redeveloped in line with the community's needs rather than making its education system subsidize a private business venture.
Why not mention the fact that this guy applied, and was appointed by Wilson council as a member of the planning commission. He immediately began his push against the council and school board position on the LERTA for the Dixie project. When met with resistance, he resigned from the planning commission. Total service to the citizens of Wilson Borough: 8 days. Thanks for nothing but your personal motivations, dude.
I'm opposed to the tax break. I think the traffic argument is ridiculous, however, given that area's 50 year history of trucks and schools in the same place. There used to be a bustling factory and distribution hub there, as well as Taylor Wharton and other large industrial players along that corridor.
"Why not mention the fact that this guy applied, and was appointed by Wilson council as a member of the planning commission. He immediately began his push against the council and school board position on the LERTA for the Dixie project. When met with resistance, he resigned from the planning commission. Total service to the citizens of Wilson Borough: 8 days. Thanks for nothing but your personal motivations, dude."
He talked about it himself when he spoke to county counciul. OIn the night he was appointed, he learned about this tax break. He began to ask questions and was rebuffed. He werent to the school board and asked questions and was told to talk to Wilson. He contacted Wilson again and was stonewalled. He went to a Council meeting to ask questions and was told to shut up and sit down. That's why he resigned.
It is obvious that Reibman rebuffed Hyman's offer for one reason, greed. I am sure Mr. Hyman offered him more than his outstanding taxes plus a nice profit for Reibman. He could have taken the money, paid off the taxes and let a responsible developer redevelop the mess that Reibman has had for 20 years. Reibman said no because he would rather hold out for more money and tax payer funded benefits.
I have some mixed feelings about Nat Hyman’s landlord tactics, process, and his politics. That said, Hyman gets results and he’s providing somewhat affordable housing in a market that desperately needs apartments. He’s grinding out rental accommodations out of old mills in Allentown and people living there aren’t in two-room apartments carved out of single-family residences in and near center city Allentown.
Hyman has a reputation for success in renovating industrial buildings and creating livable spaces at near-market rates. Is it parochialism on the part of Wilson Borough and Northampton County not to want a Lehigh County-“Allentown” person in the sandbox? I hope saner minds prevail.
Meanwhile, it’s possible Hyman may have some input on the former Allentown State Hospital grounds. We’ll see.
7:47 am: What people fail to realize is that in the last 50 years, the population (and with that comes traffic)has exploded. Really, the influx began in the last quarter century when Routes 33 and 78 were connected. We have seen massive increases in development, traffic, pollution, etc. Development is rubber-stamped with apartments attracting hundreds, already adding to the traffic congestion. Roads are two-lane and can’t be widened. A drive from Bethlehem to Wilson, via Easton Avenue/William Penn Hwy. once took about 15/20 minutes (depending on time of day). Now it is close to a half an hour or more. I would prefer to live life than sit in a car.
Bernie -
Could you provide a breakdown of the taxes owed to each government body (borough, county, school)?
Also, I think it's great that this guy has started an online petition to stop the LERTA at the county level. However, can the LERTA still survive at the borough and school district level even if the county turns it down, or does it require support from all three bodies to take effect?
Hopefully it's the latter and borough and school district taxpayers can also be spared from giving a gift to a delinquent property owner and the out-of-state developer.
Also, I would hope that the scrutiny the LERTA is getting here for the county approval would cause the school district and borough to rethink their approvals before it's too late. Otherwise, those boards need some scrutiny and their members voted out of office.
"Could you provide a breakdown of the taxes owed to each government body (borough, county, school)?"
The Wilson Boro Tax Millage is 23.5. The school district is 59.569. The county is 10.8
Based on a $1,274,800 assessment, the annual real estate taxes would be about $120,000.
The lion's share goes to the school district. The county tax is the smallest.
It is possible this NJ developer can go with just he boro and school LERTA. Not all three need to agree.
" I think the traffic argument is ridiculous, however, given that area's 50 year history of trucks and schools in the same place. There used to be a bustling factory and distribution hub there, as well as Taylor Wharton and other large industrial players along that corridor."
Fifty years ago, there was far less traffic than there is now. We have a lot more people and a lot more trucks now. Easton High School alone can be a nightmare. This NJ developer has a right to build a warehouse but we should not help finance warehouse proliferation.
John, Hyman's politics should be irrelevant, but he happens to be a moderate Democrat who actually understands finance. Insofar as his practices as a landlord are concerned, I was highly critical of him, based on complaints on social media. Then I spoke to some of his tenants and toured some of his projects. He does provide affordable housing. It places no burden on school districts because his tenants are mostly young couples with no children. I like the way he built out Lincoln Commons in Nazareth, where he did preserve a smokestack that has some historic appeal for some reason. What he does is rent as he rehabs. That way the effect is immediate. If you want to remove an eyesore, this is the way to do it.
Curious, what did emission controls look like in 1972? It's not as easy as saying there were less trucks on the road. We were still using leaded gasoline, catalytic converters were on the horizon but not in widespread use. Be careful about oversimplifying an issue. Meyers is correct in a sense. Given the size of our country mass transit is not practical in most rural/suburban areas. Unfortunately, traffic is here to stay. Humans simply pollute by existing. Unless you live in a cave and use stone tools. . .
Don't judge Meyers too harshly. What you may see as a lazy response to the issues is closer to the truth than you would like to admit.
I would be willing to bet that even with the emissions circa 1970s, the quality of life and air was much better, too. Most homes had one car (this homes with one car garages) and people didn’t travel all over creation to run their kids to club sports, dance teams, etc.
9:23 Depends on where you were in the valley. In the 1970's you could not see across the Bethlehem valley many days because of the smoke and exhaust from Bethlehem Steel. Many of the cement plants caused similar plumes just not as darkening. As long as you were up wind from these sites you were ok until the wind shifted in your direction. Outside of those areas and out in the country so to speak you were fairly good.
I lived at 13th and Northampton in Easton back in the 70s to the 90's. Our house had "white" aluminum siding. It wasn't white for too long; Pfizer made sure of that. If any of those street signs still exist from that era, take a look at the back of them. I bet they are a pure rust color.
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