As promised, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure has vetoed a special tax break called a LERTA for an industrial development in Upper Mount Bethel Tp. This LERTA was adopted Thursday night by a 6-3 County Council majority that included Republicans John Brown, Tom Giovanni, John Goffredo and Democrats Lori Vargo-Heffner, Ron Heckman and Kerry Myers. It was opposed by Republican John Cusick and Democrats Kevin Lott and Tara Zrinski.
In a LERTA, the owner still continues to pay real estate taxes, but any increased assessment from the value of improvements made on a parcel are phased in over a period of time, usually 10 years.
The argument for this tax break is that it would create badly needed manufacturing jobs in an economical.ly depressed area that all young people leave. The argument against it is that it would lead to warehouses.
County Council rejected a proposal made by McClure, and accepted by the developer, to redraft the LERTA so that it would only apply to manufacturing projects.
In his veto message, McClure argues that "we should not be incentivizing warehouse construction with tax breaks. Instead, we should be incentivizing the creation of manufacturing jobs. To that end, the developer of the RPL project is willing to work with the County of Northampton in the context of this LERTA to do just that."
He implores County Council to sustain the veto so he can achieve a workable LERTA.
Under the Home Rule Charter, an Executive veto requires six votes to overturn. Given that six members of Council voted for the LERTA despite being made aware that both developer and the Executive were willing to limit it to manufacturing, it seems unlikely that one would have a change of heart.
But you never know.
That's why we have horse races, jury trials and County Councils.
14 comments:
This is a perfect illustration of the difference between being pro-capitalism and being pro-business, which often manifests as crony-capitalism. It is the diametric opposite of capitalism.
Let's go Council. Stop incentivizing warehouses. Learn from mistakes made(Chrin development at Van Buren, etc) Do NOT believe developers when they make promises with a nod and a wink that they will not be building warehouses. It needs to be put into any agreements in writing.
Fool me once...
It is ridiculous that the Council voted yes for this. The developer can pay the taxes, and if not, then build your industrial development, AKA warehouses, somewhere else. Good for McClure! He is true to his word and the Council should support him! NO MORE WAREHOUSES!!!
McClure must be the most politically motivated executive the county ever has. Everything is about votes. Five years ago, he pushed this LERTA hard. Now the political wind is blowing the other way.
BernieOHare to 3:28, the LERTA was written to expire after five years unless extended after review. In the 5 years since that time, there has been a text amendment to the zoning, there has been a plan with 17 separate sites and there has been no guarantee that development will be limited to manufacturing. There has been an increase in truck traffic along 611 as a result of unrelated construction. The developer has proposed a new sewage site which would require a separate municipal authority. The population is now adamantly opposed to warehouse development. Are we supposed to just rubber stamp what was enacted five years ago under a completely different environment? I think not. Good government is government that responds to changes over time and listens to everyone. MCClure and Pektor seemed to be on the verge of making changes that would make everyone happy. That’s good politics but it’s also good government. People like you are just full of venom.
Why isn't warehouse development a question on the ballot. I believe most people want the insanity to stop. There are many jobs to be had. Yes you may need to travel but there are tons of jobs. And most will pay a little more in taxes to stop the warehouse slaughter of our landscape and roads
""Why isn't warehouse development a question on the ballot.
That would be illegal in a right-to-develop state. They are here bc there's a demand for them. I have nothing against them if they are close to rail or a highway, but no tax break.
So we have the word of a lawyer and a developer, no thanks.
Instead of waiting till the last second to Suggest a political settlement, has McClure reached out to any council people to try for support? That may be more beneficial than he and his minions using social media and you to demonize them considering that if he is truly serious that may be a more productive avenue for success. Or will he use the Trump complaint that they are all DIONOs and they are all against him. Not very good for a real leader. Hissy fits generally don't work as well ax... Work. Maybe he can use the couple weeks he has to work with Pector on something tangible to offer rather than a promise. By the way our first responders cheered the vote as did many of our longtime residents needing tax relief.
For a hater like you, nothing McClure would do would be right. Why should Pektor even bother to sit down with McClure?. He already has what he wants. I can see you're dishonest, but are you that stupid, too?
Plenty of empty Industrial park space.
About time McClueless did something right.
County Council needs to really look at this Lerta. They voted against the Dixie Cup Lerta which would have brought warehouses and now voted to allow them in UMB. I think if they override this veto they will open up a can of worms and Dixie will be back looking for the same thing. I don't think they would have much choice but to approve it or they could probably be sued and end up in court. They just need one vote to NOT override so someone on council need to be awaken to this fact.
If McClure and Zarinski had kept quiet the original LERTA would have passed with a no warehouse amendment..Their dislike for Cusick backfired.
It definitely was a last-minute attempt to derail Cusick by McClure and willing puppet Zirinski.
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