That's what I thought when I first heard that State Senator Jarrett Coleman was seeking more transparency with Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ). After all, his predecessor (Pat Browne) authored legislative changes in 2021 that basically prevents the public from seeing revenue sources created as a result of the NIZ. Moreover, Coleman is a freshman senator with no real ties to anyone, except perhaps for the people who voted him into office. But he did it. On Wednesday, he persuaded the state senate to adopt a fiscal code that included language to make Allentown's NIZ more open to public eyes.
The NIZ is the mother of all tax breaks. It was buried in a Fiscal Code Bill penned by former State Senator Browne 14 years ago. Most legislators who voted for it had no idea it was even there. It creates a special tax district in Allentown, the only one of its kind in the state. It enables developers to use state and local taxes generated in the zone to finance debt service on projects financed within the special tax district. Because developers can use state and local taxes to finance buildings, they can charge rents below the going market rate. This incentive attracts businesses that might otherwise shun Allentown. But instead of attracting nonlocal businesses, many of the tenants inside the NIZ are formerly from other parts of the Lehigh Valley.
In his remarks to the State Senate, Coleman stated:
“Over $500 million has been invested in Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) over the last decade. To date it has not been possible to conduct objective analysis to determine the success of the program in meeting its legislative intent.
"In June of 2021, the fiscal code was changed to stop the public from learning how tax dollars are moving through the NIZ. Taxpayers were also denied the ability to understand the individual sources and amounts of revenue that were being generated from taxpayer dollars. Accessing this information is vital to understanding whether the NIZ functions as advertised and sold to the public. Has it been an engine of economic development or real-estate development, and at what cost? These two things don’t always line up. If we’re going to answer that question, then we need access to specific financial details.
"The original fiscal notes, or calculations of cost to the Commonwealth, indicated that there wouldn’t be any negative impact to tax revenues. That conclusion assumed that activity in the NIZ was new activity, and not shifting from other municipalities. There are questions about whether that is what happened. Hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue have been attributed to the NIZ. Questions surrounding the implementation of the NIZ law and its impact on the overall financial health of the Commonwealth can only be answered if we have access to this information.
" Taxpayers have a right to know if their money is being spent wisely. Today, the changes we are making to the fiscal code will ensure that the public has access to information around how tax dollars are being spent. These changes are vital for transparency and to ensure that we all have access to the information needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.”
Senator Nick Miller, who also represents Allentown, spoke against Coleman's proposal on the Senate floor, claiming it "adversely affects the City of Allentown and the Neighborhood Improvement Zone.
"This program has been phenomenol in the city and our neighborhoods.This legislation would kill at least $300 million in projected projects in the NIZ. Those are family sustaining jobs that our going to be killed by this leagislation.
"Thisprogram is also audited annually by the state,and those reports are made public. ... Why just this program?."
Perhaps because it's the only one of its kind in the state, and it might be discouraging economic development outside of Allentown."
According to Allentown's website, more than $1 billion is real estate development has already been completed. With that kind of money, much of it from government tax breaks, the potential for mischief and waste is obvious. Moreover, the NIZ might be helping Allentown at the expense of other municipalities and businesses who also have family sustaining jobs. How could anyone rationally oppose a little more of a spotlight on the finances? "Sunshine is the best disinfectant."
The Fiscal Code adopted by the Senate on Wednesday is an essential part of s state budget. The House has yet to act. Instead of working on a budget, they are in recess until mid-September.
61 comments:
Orignally the NIZ was supposed to attract new business to downtown Allentown. Instead it succeeded in luring existing companies so their success came at the epense of other communities in the valley. It is a big shell game.
Maybe the former mayor will have some company from his hometown
How did the other lifer senator, Boscola vote? She is also owned by the NIZ crowd. You can be sure all the Allentown dams in the statehouse will never vote for this. The NIZ has been very good to them. The voters just keep voting them in as long a their wave their Rainbow flags while they rob them blind.
I applaud Coleman's followup on his campaign pledge to scrutinize the NIZ. The taxpayers are funding the private ownership of a $Billion dollars of real estate, essentially owned by one man. The game rules were written in pencil, with opportunistic changes made with no oversight.
The cigarette tax was seemingly added to the mix, short changing children's health insurance. Although the NIZ was supposed to be commercial only, the 1000 plus new apartments suggests that residential is also being funded by the taxpayers. While the few storefronts on the first floor of these apartment houses remain vacant, more and more apartments are being built. The newly announced Neuweiler project is another a money pit. The NIZ board (ANIZDA) has been a rubber stamp from day one.
Nick Miller is annoying furry. Pat Browne should rot forever in the hell that surely awaits him.
After only the first 3 years of the NIZ plan’s inception, it was obvious the NIZ would never make it into a net-Positive condition in terms of revenue going to Pennsylvania taxpayers. In reality, Allentown’s NIZ has been a huge failure.
So far, no NEW tax dollars generated to the State over all these years. Emphasis on “new” dollars. Revenue over and above what was already coming in to the state before the NIZ was put into operation. Remember back, for the first 5 years, or so, the NIZ did not continue on sending the normal total amount of revenue back to State coffers. The NIZ was quickly in a “hole” to the tune of roughly 100 million dollars. By the time five more years passed, that deficit was still not erased.
Allentown’s NIZ plan should have been changed, if not completely stopped years ago. Again, the vast majority of tax revenues reported coming in as a result of the NIZ were already coming in from the same acreage here and from acreage elsewhere throughout the State.
Our failing, over-priced, Allentown Morning Call has failed to protect general public interest in their lack of coverage and obfuscation of details about this plan all along. Unfortunately, real journalism in America is pretty much lost, particularly in coverage of political activities and their consequences.
I liked the part about family sustaining jobs and got a good laugh. There are no family sustaining jobs with in the zone unless it is a family of one still on public assistance. Now there is the fact of criminal activities going on inside of the new buildings hiding from sunshine disinfectant that is not published by or handled with any sunshine at all.
Brown as crooked as the Snake River. Glad he's gone. Now, we need to rid ourselves of the orange haired indicted crook.
Coleman is the real deal, and represents the PEOPLE (instead of special interests) very well. He actually listens more than he talks, but he'll also tell you exactly what he thinks and what's going on. That’s a big departure from most people in state government.
In short, Coleman is a breath of fresh air, and because of that will certainly be challenged by the leadership of both parties should he choose to run again. He's not playing their game.
Nick Miller is every bit the hack that I knew he would be. Imagine actually having the gall to say that having a little transparency on the NIZ "...would kill at least $300 million in projected projects in the NIZ." Just by LOOKING at the program! Maybe he should explain why that is, if everything is on the up-and-up.
Certainly a program of this magnitude should be able to withstand even the strongest scrutiny. What is Miller trying to hide, and who is he trying to cover for?
Buffoon, sellout, corrupt. I'm looking for a stronger word to describe Miller than just "hack", but too many come to mind.
I'd say shame on Allentown voters, but they have none. Perhaps Miller also perfectly represents the people HE represents. I'm sure his campaign will be rewarded handsomely from City Center. City residents need to realize that when you elect crap to office, you get crap back.
Unlike Coleman, Miller will last forever in state government. Like most of the others there, he leaves a trail of slime wherever he goes.
While I have always believed we should try new things to revive and reinvent Allentown. I have two problems with the this NIZ.
1. Why was the legislation not written to prevent one person from essentially monopolizing this policy. Spread the wealth...
2. If public money is to be utilized than all the books should be open for inspection and scrutiny.
What sensible reasons would there be to prohibit either of these.
"How did the other lifer senator, Boscola vote? She is also owned by the NIZ crowd."
Boscola was a No. But she was voting against the Fiscal Code, and Coleman's proposal is part of it. She has always supported the NIZ.
"1. Why was the legislation not written to prevent one person from essentially monopolizing this policy. Spread the wealth..."
It was written in a way that more than one person could have benefited. The fact that JB Reilly was the only developer for the first several years is not his fault. The ANIZDA Board made it difficult for others, but that's on them, not the law itself.
8:47 - Spreading the wealth isn't the reason not to have that one-person monopoly.
Imagine if you had 10 different developers instead of one. Or 20. Or 30.
You'd have that many people using THEIR contacts and THEIR staff to draw out-of-state investment into the NIZ. Instead we have 1 (two if you count Jaindl), and it should be little wonder that we've instead gotten in-state (and even in-county and in-city) poaching.
Also, imagine the rich diversity in architecture and building design if you had more developers competing on a level playing field. Instead of non-descript, cookie-cutter office and apartment buildings that all look the same, you'd have each developer trying to outdo each other to make their properties more attractive to potential tenants.
I'm appalled each time I hear a local politician praising JB Reilly for all that he's done for Allentown. His greed has kept the NIZ from attracting high-paying employers from the NY/NJ area, and will leave us with a downtown full of unattractive buildings once the new-ness wears off.
Instead of lauding Reilly, city residents and their elected officials should run him out of town with pitchforks and torches.
Unfortunately in the LV we don't have media oversight. I watch tons of videos on YouTube where TV stations and newspapers do investigative reporting. None of which we have here in the LV. While I'm not placing blame on our local papers or TV because they struggle to exist, it's still a fact we have little media oversight. Without that motivation government officials either are unaware of what's going on or don't feel the pressure to do anything about these things.
"So far, no NEW tax dollars generated to the State over all these years. Emphasis on “new” dollars. Revenue over and above what was already coming in to the state before the NIZ was put into operation"
I am under the impression that the NIZ has resulted in additional tax revenue. Please correct me if I have this wrong. According to The Morning Call, the NIZ area was producing $22 million in tax revenue per year before it was adopted, and that revenue was around $91 million in 2021. I believe this is the net tax revenue, which means revenue over and above the debt service. If that is so, the NIZ is a success inside the NIZ. https://www.mcall.com/2023/03/23/senator-allentown-niz-financials/
I fail to see how more transparency would in any way hurt the NIZ, and am extremely disappointed by Miller's ridiculous and dishonest argument on the senate floor. Perhaps that's why he deleted them from his Facebook page.
But let's drop the name calling. It weakens whatever points you are making.
Boscola and Browne: dishonest and disgraceful legislators. But as a semi-functioning drunk myself, they're probably a blast hang with and get shit-plowed. Cheers to poor government and hat tip to a guy trying to fix the unfixable.
The new tax revenue is tobacco wholesale tax. The tobacco tax likely exceeds 50 million of the NIZ revenue. That is why Browne doesn’t want the revenue buckets to be shown. If they are separated per the SB757 people will see the city is being built on addiction and disease to the tune of 50 million per year.
The developers realized that the cigarette tax was the fuel for the building of the city. And when the morning call went to expose this browne changed the law.
Bernie O'Hare said...the NIZ area was producing $22 million in tax revenue per year before it was adopted, and that revenue was around $91 million in 2021.
It ,may be true for the NIZ area itself, but what about overall new revenue for the state itself. Most of this NEW revenue seems to come at the expensive of other local surrounding areas where business left. Would it not be true the state gained perhaps little or nothing for the risk taken? A full accounting would clear this matter up.
Bernie O'Hare said: "It was written in a way that more than one person could have benefited. The fact that JB Reilly was the only developer for the first several years is not his fault. The ANIZDA Board made it difficult for others, but that's on them, not the law itself."
My recollection is that City Center was making offers on downtown properties before anyone really knew about the NIZ.
So despite your assertion that "Most legislators who voted for it had no idea it was even there", it would seem that City Center was certainly up to speed ahead of everyone else.
Imagine that.
So yeah, I do blame Reilly. And Browne.
9:38, Look, JB Reilly is a class act with a great family. He has no obligation to develop the way you want. He develops the way he wants. He is not an elected official and took no oath to serve you. It is not his fault that the law is written in a way that almost invites poaching. He is a business man, and in the end, his companies exist to make money. I hate these ugly personal attacks that are always made anonymously. I admire him both personally and professionally, and think Allentown would have done for worse with many of the other developers out there, especially nonlocals. The only reason I have allowed your comment is because of your more substantive arguments.
A few points. It is no longer useful to discuss whether to have a NIZ. It's here, and it's not going away. I fail to see how Coleman's measure would in any way destroy $300 million in projected projects. If anything, additional transparency might reveal it has been very successful.
I am philosophically opposed to tax incentives like these, but I fault legislators, not the businesses who benefit.
LVCI (9:38 am) said:
" While I'm not placing blame on our local papers or TV because they struggle to exist, it's still a fact we have little media oversight."
One of the largest municipal corruption scandals in PA history took place in Allentown City Hall for about a decade. This was within easy walking distance from the Morning Call's headquarters at that time.
Despite that, the Morning Call ignored the obvious during those years, only reporting on it after the FBI raided City Hall.
That's the type of story that sells papers and wins Pulitzer Prizes, not regurgitating press releases from City Hall (or City Center).
The local newspaper has also kept itself from asking the basic questions about the NIZ that many on this blog have asked for years, and that Senator Coleman now asks with his legislation. It should also be remembered that the Morning Call building was miraculously included in a revision of the NIZ's borders, making it much more valuable when the Call eventually sold it.
So you might want to rethink your lack of blame on the local media. They aren't just bystanders in the corruption that's spread over Allentown. They're complicit.
Bernie@9:39 AM - for the first years, the NIZ wasn’t producing new dollars (from outside PA) in an amount equal to the already approx. 25 million dollars. So, in year 2 of the NIZ, the new NIZ plan would need to have produced about 50 million dollars just to keep everything on an even pace. From what I recall, when the NIZ started to return any excess amount it was only in the neighborhood of 8 million dollars. So, the already existing money pit grew deeper.
Also, don’t forget that most current revenue being reported as “new” really is NOT new to Pennsylvania. It came from other PA municipalities who then no longer were paying due to the poaching. In addition, the vast majority of hourly employees currently working inside the NIZ are from the service industry. Much of that labor was already being down in Bethlehem, Easton, etc. Very few would move here from out-of-state just to be restaurant server, a ticket-taker, a custodian, etc. For example, if someone was a restaurant server at Hotel Bethlehem, then replaced that job with a similar job at The Hamilton . . . where’s the gain?
It’s too bad after all these years we have such confusion and have to ask these type questions, I think.
It’s not his fault it’s written the way it is? His childhood friend drafted the legislation that is now paying for the construction of the buildings he owns. I agree that the area would likely never have been developed without public support, but the NIZ is something different entirely. You’d be naive to believe JB Reilly had no influence. The guy is going to be left with property worth hundreds of millions of dollars worth of real estate built using tax dollars. PPL moving into the NIZ allows him to tap into even more tax dollars to fund further development. Miller knows how it works and knows the public would not react favorably to more transparency into how the system operates.
Bernie O'Hare (9:56 am) said: "I am philosophically opposed to tax incentives like these, but I fault legislators, not the businesses who benefit."
I generally take the same position, but I guess I draw a distinction between a business that applies for an existing benefit vs. one that is involved in crafting the tax incentive and supporting the campaigns of the politicians in favor of it.
The NIZ wasn't just a new wrinkle in the far-away federal tax code. It was a one-of-a-kind piece of legislation that was tucked into another enormous bill by ONE local politician. As you note, many who voted for the legislation weren't even aware of the provision. Likewise, only one local developer was seemingly able to outsmart the multitude of established developers in the Lehigh Valley to the point of swallowing up almost all the properties included in the zone.
Those facts make me very skeptical, and based on them I'm comfortable with the level of responsibility that I apply to some local businesspeople.
I don't know how far-reaching the scrutiny called for in Coleman's legislation will go, but I hope it looks at EVERY ASPECT of the NIZ from its inception through its execution.
After more than a decade, taxpayers deserve answers to ALL of their questions.
Bernie:
I really appreciate and agree with your comments in here. I am personally in favor of the NIZ and (as someone who works for a company that relocated downtown) I think it has helped Allentown. I get the arguments against and you have always given them a strong voice (I personally disagree).
What I agree with you on is the argument for transparency. I favor the NIZ but think that the trade off is that those books need to be open.
Those who fear transparency, fear what it will reveal. It will reveal that the math behind this NIZ and other NIZ/CRIZ schemes NEVER works. It simply can't. The science is settled. It's corporate welfare bestowed by politicians with questionable ethics.
The article in today’s Morning Call states the newspaper was turned down in its request for comprehensive NIZ financials for the year 2016-2018. Looking at just those few years doesn’t tell the full story, just a small snapshot. It is the first 10 years of the NIZ that actually set the stage for where the plan stands today. The hole this scheme dug early on might not have been filled even now!
I’ve always believed Pennsylvania taxpayers should have gained some sort of ownership equity in these buildings from the start. With such an arrangement, the taxpayers might recover some of the paid taxes transferred out of the state budgets to build the structures when eventually sold. We ALL KNOW, upon taking out those normal state revenue amounts, the projects originally receiving those same funds (but no longer receiving due to the NIZ transfers) continued on, and their need for financial support was found in other places. Those other places include new taxes assessed on all of us, new fees, or possibly monies taken from other worthy programs.
This NIZ should be re-cast, if not halted altogether.
I'm in general agreement that Coleman is shaping up to be a really competent State Rep with good intentions and an likable independent disposition. Nick Miller is looking like his polar opposite, a strict subservient party loyalist with no independence, who like Schlossberg and Schweyer will only ever win where there's a large majority of straight ticket voting Dems.
The information this bill seeks th have made public must come from the PA Department of Revenue. Guess who is running that Department...
Pat Browne
This state senator is going to be eating his lunch alone for a long time if this passes. Go Coleman!
To put all of this in simple terms . . . We are told 500 million dollars of NIZ construction funding has been obligated so far. So, is anyone willing to tell us how much of this amount has been recovered through brand new tax dollars created, as of now?
Bernie, I see no mention of the barber shop owner on 8th street that was murdered that didn't want to sell? Now we have the check writing company that writes the NIZ checks for all employees.
Senator Coleman has rattled the Lehigh Valley Uniparty’s nest. Did anyone see Pete Schweyer embarrass himself with his comments to the morning call? The guy is a corrupt fuck and the gravy train is ending. Jarrett Coleman doesn’t give a fuck about any of these grifters and I love it. The party is over!
I'm just waiting to see who gets to buy the PPL building for a buck.
JB is a good man who has done a lot for the community. Stop the hate. If you don’t like it, blame those that didn’t read the bill. He is an incredible businessman, intelligent, dedicated, caring, and an overall good guy. He is a leader.
What is going on with the brewery niz site has the tear down subcontractor been hired just to remove the bodies and walk away from the obligations? I seem to have a memory of the local paper pushing it as a very reliable developer brought in from the outside. Now the company is just hauling debris to a un disclosed site for remediation of the remnants of asbestos just to be buried. The questions could go on and on about that particular part of the niz's superfund class of dumping grounds being near a waterway.
What is the cover up, though? We already see the overall numbers that are coming in. Why are they going to release confidential corporate tax returns to the public? That’s not fair to the companies - to disclose their confidential tax data to the public. They just moved into the NIZ and to disclose their confidential financial information to the public just isn’t right.
I’m so confused about this. What does this bill actually do? Doesn’t the NIZ already disclose the revenue generated?
Coleman is a right wing extremist that is paid for and bought by an election denier (who was in DC for the insurrection and is being sued for his false claims and BS investigations on the 2020 election), billionaire Jeff Yass, and an extreme right wing political action committee that runs his office. His three or four supporters like to say that Browne was bought and paid for but they seem to ignore the fact that Coleman is doing the bidding for his own donors, with one of the leaders of the pac that gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars running his Harrisburg office for the purpose of pushing the pac’s agenda. Same old, same old. All are the same.
Corporate tax returns are exempt from this. (Per the morning call office of open record decision). However it would be interesting if Brown was doing tax returns for the businesses in the NIZ while he was a state rep.
You are being confused on purpose as they try to spin this.
Currently the revenues are all reported in large buckets so the public cannot see what is being generated by the zone in each category .
For example in 2021 the NIZ reported 71 million in revenues from all of the following sources.
“Total corporate taxes and miscellaneous taxes attributable to the NIZ, including personal income tax, bank shares tax, gross receipts tax, cigarette tax, unemployment compensation, malt beverage tax, etc. it’s all reported in one big pile.
For example if 60 million of revenue out of the 71 million of revenue is tobacco revenue,is the NIZ a driver of economic development or a tobacco plant?
Is the NIZ working if 90% of the annual revenue is from cigarettes? Regardless of what your answer is you don’t even get to give an answer because the dept of Revenue (Pat Brown) won‘t split the buckets up to show the public how the zone is operating.
If the zone is resulting in business growth, the revenues would be coming from gross receipts, corporate net income tax, unemployment tax etc. But in order to determine that you need to see each bucket of revenue and not all just thrown in a pile.
The morning call was onto this back when they filed their request with the office of open records ( you can find their articles on the cigarette operators being bought). When they requested the data. The office of open records said sure you can have the data. Pat Browne then changed the law so the morning call could not get the data.
Thus what Rep Coleman is doing is trying to allow the public to see what types of revenues and to what amount the taxpayers are getting from their 500 million dollar investment.
Oh and there is more..
With another 300 million in investment lined up, the next developer in line on the waterfront has ironically also gotten ahold of a tobacco stamping business.
We should all listen to Peter Schwyer and Stop asking for answers and just shut up and agree the NIZ is working already.
Besides, Pete has been getting campaign donations from the NIZ developers since it’s inception.
Look, it MUST be determined if the NIZ is working for taxpayers all across the state. Has this plan been a good use of Pennsylvania tax dollars? How many additional tax revenue dollars have been brought into the State Treasury due to this unusual NIZ plan? We KNOW (adjusted for inflation) how many tax dollars would have come in without the NIZ ever being instituted. We KNOW most of the incoming tax dollars since the NIZ began were already coming in to this state as most payers were simply paying from a different Pennsylvania mailing address.
We DO NOT know the full story here! How much of a success, or failure, has this been as an income generator for a State Treasury that supports all citizens, not just those living in the Lehigh Valley? We are on the hook paying to build new “stuff” in Allentown. Half a billion dollars worth. Allentown looks better, but at what cost to other state initiatives?
The BEFORE and AFTER revenue comparison at the State level has NOT been completely revealed. Are we dealing with an illusion here? Does anyone actually know?
Is Coleman just doing this to help his donor, David Jaindl, try to get at his brother, Mark? I agree that transparency is good, but, the numbers are there. What else does he need to know. I question his motives big times. He’s a conservative freak show.
Why does Coleman have the CEO of his biggest donor- CAP- named Leo Knepper running his state senate office? Isn’t that a bit of a conflict that Mr. Knepper is on the State Senate payroll and the payroll of his biggest donor? Another play to play politician that talks out of both sides of his as*.
You are incorrect, this change would NOT include corporate tax returns. It was actually the Commonwealth Court that ruled that the corporate tax returns would NOT be included. Please don’t regurgitate false information claiming this would extend to corporate tax returns.
“The Commonwealth Court affirmed the OOR’s final determination. The court rejected the Department’s argument that total tax revenues are categorically exempt as “return information.” The court explained that tax confidentiality statutes and regulations prevent disclosure of individual taxpayer liability not total revenues generated. The court explained: “Ultimately, the Department did not establish that the tax revenue broken down by type of tax, showing only Tax Total for each type of tax in the NIZ – without the number of taxpayers of each tax, which was not requested – qualifies as confidential tax information.”
The Commonwealth Court’s decision has public importance because the nine taxes at issue generate the majority of tax revenues in the NIZ. The public may now discern which taxes generate the most revenue.”
The court released this decision, and before the information was then requested , Browne changed the law to prevent its release.
https://www.nssh.com/2021/02/nauman-smith-secures-public-records-victory-for-news-media-client-seeking-tax-revenues-generated-in-the-allentown-neighborhood-improvement-zone/
He wants to know if 60 of the 71 million in revenue is cigarette tax revenue or actual new business revenue. One is economic development the other not so much.
Currently the revenues are all reported in large buckets so the public cannot see what is being generated by the zone in each category .
For example in 2021 the NIZ reported 71 million in revenues from all of the following sources.
“Total corporate taxes and miscellaneous taxes attributable to the NIZ, including personal income tax, bank shares tax, gross receipts tax, cigarette tax, unemployment compensation, malt beverage tax, etc. it’s all reported in one big pile.
For example if 60 million of revenue out of the 71 million of revenue is tobacco revenue,is the NIZ a driver of economic development or a tobacco plant?
Is the NIZ working if 90% of the annual revenue is from cigarettes? Regardless of what your answer is you don’t even get to give an answer because the dept of Revenue (Pat Brown) won‘t split the buckets up to show the public how the zone is operating.
If the zone is resulting in business growth, the revenues would be coming from gross receipts, corporate net income tax, unemployment tax etc. But in order to determine that you need to see each bucket of revenue and not all just thrown in a pile.
Personal attacks against JB,Jaindl, Coleman, Schweyer etc take away from the discussion. Please keep the ad hominem attacks at bay as they erode the substance of the discussion.
Another ad hominem attack to bring down the IQ in the room. Glad you agree or disagree with transparency.
Again, if State Taxes are no longer coming from the NIZ in Allentown for any other purpose than to build a private real estate empires, those same amounts of redirected revenues came at SOMEONE’S expense. So, the question remaining include -
How were the “lost” state revenues replaced, or were not replaced?
How much has been replaced by this creative, new NIZ plan?
Based on the information that’s been released publicly, I don’t know how any Pennsylvania taxpayer across the state can determine if such NIZ-type plans are worthy of establishing elsewhere. Who can tell if the Allentown experiment has been a positive or negative governmental act by the State Legislators on behalf of all its constituents?
My personal impression is, the NIZ has mostly failed. It should NOT be continued going forward.
Interesting. Thanks for the response and clarification. A question…. Does anyone have any idea (any rumors out there) on how much is coming from the cigarette stamping business? Are there any ideas on numbers? Is there any way to confirm if all the cigarette stamping is actually happening in Allentown or are the revenues are only running through Allentown without the actually stamping occurring in the city?
Assuming that there is significant revenue from the cigarette stamping tax and that was taking out of the law, is there any thought on the end impact of a change of this sort? In other words, Would the NIZ be able to meet its bond debt obligations without the cigarette tax revenue? If not, does the NIZ fail and all of those buildings go into a foreclosure of sorts?
Pete sucks.
I am concerned about the idea of revenue not being generated in Allentown going through the Allentown tax system for purposes of the NIZ. Will this help clarify that?
Thanks. Understood. Transparency is indeed a good thing. But, in the end, what would you say is Coleman’s goal after we find out the exact numbers? Is this Part 1 of a NIZ takedown and bring it to an end or just end the cigarette tax part of the NIZ? I agree that not all tax revenue should be included in the NIZ revenue to pay down bonds, but it is what it is now, so, my feeling is that the overall objective here is to end the NIZ. Or, at least, at a minimum, ensure that only tax revenue that can be directly attributable to the NIZ is accounted for.
Transparency is important for all.
What’s the story on the millions Browne gave out right before he left office. There is Something shady going on with that too. In his last months in office, article after article wrote that he was handing out millions to organizations across the Lehigh Valley. I am so curious as to how he did that and If that can be reviewed. It doesn’t seem fair. Why are we paying for the davinci center and all of those other pet projects.
The Allentown NIZ plan APPEARS to be a distribution of BLANK CHECKS, essentially. As we have seen on the national level, handing out too many “blank checks” has helped to bring America and its citizens to their knees, and made our futures less certain. The general public is not being told enough for comfort. This is the same situation.
I realize many readers here do not agree with what I wrote above. It really is a topic for discussion for an upcoming column. I won’t try and discuss it further here.
The rumors on the amount of tobacco tax in the zone is estimated to be anywhere from 50 million to 60 million per year.
This NIZ or Bethlehems CRIZ has and will continue to be THEFT plain and simple from the whole of PA. I can remember being told that the PA Lottery was to help keep elders in there homes to go home and just like every thing govmental it has become a positive for only a chosen few. In other words this like any sort of help from the govment has become a administrative costs to pa while the public becomes suffers.
Take a good look at the cars outside of local habitat for humanity, ADMINISTRATIVE COST does not afford some of those vehicles?
Who are you, his wife? 🤣
Can you link to an article? This didn't happen.
Can someone tell me how Pat Browne hasn’t been indicted? In fact he got promoted! He’s now Secretary of Revenue so he can try and hide the NIZ scam. I hope Jarrett has someone checking his food. God Bless Jarrett.
How much of the NIZ area is in Coleman’s district?
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