Last night the Bethlehem School Board rejected a tax-increment financing (TIF) district for Martin Tower, despite all the king's horses and men. Board members were told that without the tax bond, lesser priced dwellings would be constructed, eventually resulting in less taxes and more rug rats. One board member explained that her no vote was because the project didn't rise to an extraordinary level. The TIF would have given the developer money, while here in Allentown we use KOZ, which forgives taxes for at least a decade. Here in Allentown, apparently everything rises to an extraordinary level; The Allentown School Board has yet to hear a KOZ proposal it didn't accept. While I'm out of town, let me move further east, toward Easton. I'm an advocate for the historical county nursing homes, Gracedale and Cedarbrook. Preserving these institutions does rise to an extraordinary level.
The ASd board turned down a KOZ on the hotel at 4th and Hamilton. And, Mike, city council and county commissioners have to approve this stuff, too. Don't forget to take them to task.
ReplyDeleteTime to stop all of this nonsense.
ReplyDeleteHas there been any follow-up to see if the objectives of the KOZs in Allentown have been realized?
Have additional taxes been regenerated by any of this or is this just political patronage?
Probably not. Maybe all they do is forestall what is inevitable economically in Allentown.
Wasn't the Allentown Brew Works built in a KOZ zone.
ReplyDeleteMr. Molovinsky,
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Yet another Basin St. fatality last night. How many is that in the past five years? Basin Street continues to be a nightmare. Saturday afternoon another accident that closed the roadway for hours. Why doesn't the city do something!
"I'm an advocate for the historical county nursing homes, Gracedale and Cedarbrook." (MM)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it bad enough that Obamacare brings Uncle Sam into the examining room, now you advocate for a local county politician as grandmother's nurse. What a waste of local tax money! I never thought of you as a "tax and spend" kind of guy!