Luzerne County Council delayed voting Tuesday on three major matters — a suggested schedule for real estate tax breaks, a proposed court lease and expansion of tax exemption for disabled veterans.
The proposal to set tax break guidelines by category prompted extensive debate but was ultimately tabled to provide economic development entities — particularly Penn’s Northeast President/CEO John Augustine — an opportunity to weigh in at a future public meeting.
Councilman Jimmy Sabatino, who chairs council’s infrastructure committee, had proposed the idea to his council colleagues during discussion about a tax break in March, saying council should decide in advance what fees and discounts it deems acceptable for warehousing and logistic, manufacturing and tech-based development.
The infrastructure committee subsequently agreed to present the resulting recommendation to the full council for its consideration and input.
Under the suggestions, warehousing and logistics development would receive the least favorable break — five years instead of the maximum allowable decade, with a discount of 50% the first year and decreasing 10% annually to a final 10% off taxes in the fifth year.
A development fee of $5,000 per acre also would be owed to the county, it said.
The proposed discount for manufacturing and tech-based development would be 90% the first year and decrease by 10% annually, ending with 5% in the tenth year, it said.
Development fees would be $2,500 per acre for manufacturing and $3,500 per acre for tech-based development.
Augustine submitted an email urging council to table a decision until it can seek input from economic development professionals and developers.
“I applaud council for wanting to create a process, but I don’t believe that council currently has a good understanding of what is going on in the economic development world, not just in Luzerne County or NEPA but also across multiple states and globally,” Augustine wrote. “To make decisions without proper information would be negligent.”
Augustine said the county is “currently in the crosshairs of a once-in-a-lifetime, generational opportunity with family-sustaining jobs.”
Councilman Kevin Lescavage had unsuccessfully attempted to remove the schedule from Tuesday’s agenda in light of the new information provided by Augustine. The removal vote was tied 5-5, with Chairman John Lombardo absent, which meant it had to stay on the agenda.
Lombardo also submitted a letter to his colleagues reiterating his “vehement opposition” to a schedule.
“This schedule, whether suggestive or mandated, is sending shockwaves all throughout the developer community in Pennsylvania and beyond. It is telling people that Luzerne County is a wrench in the work of economic progress,” he wrote.
Lombardo said council should be listening to feedback from the economic development community, which has been focused on bringing good-paying jobs to the county, increasing the tax base and reclaiming mine-scarred land that “plagues the region.”
“We should not be treating these people like lepers when they are actually major assets,” he said of the development community.
Lombardo also said developers often build structures on speculation without knowing in advance whether the end users will be warehouses, tech firms or manufacturers. He pointed to the CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park in Pittston Township, saying it houses a diverse mix of manufacturing, tech firms and distribution centers in addition to a food bank and trampoline park.
A schedule could put future development “at risk” and send a message that the county is against growth, business, jobs, the environment and progress, he asserted.
As in past discussions, council members presented mixed views for and against.
Councilwoman Brittany Stephenson said the schedule will draw developers “with intention,” saying the county also has housing needs and eventually will run out of land. She views the guidelines as a “middle ground” and described the language in Lombardo’s letter as “very divisive.”
Sabatino agreed, saying he wants to get away from speculative construction and “bring more intentionality” in the future.
Councilman Chris Perry said tax breaks awarded by the county have been scaled back over time, which he expects to continue. He said a schedule could be kept for internal negotiating purposes, but he does not support publicly posting a chart that could unknowingly deter prospective projects.
Court lease
Council also removed a proposed court lease from the agenda, citing the need for further discussion on a revised version submitted to council Monday.
Court officials want to lease an 11,900-square-foot property at 310 Market St. in Kingston to house the county’s Domestic Relations office to free up space to house the entire family court inside the county-owned Bernard C. Brominski Building on North Street in Wilkes-Barre.
The new proposal reduced the lease term from 15 years to a decade and made other alterations, county Court Administrator Paul Hindmarsh said.
Hindmarsh has emphasized state funding for Domestic Relations would cover the lease, not the county’s general fund operating budget. Under the proposal, the county would pay $25,783 per month, or $309,396 annually.
Veteran exemption
An exemption of real estate taxes is currently available only to honorably discharged veterans disabled during a period of war, and the county has been considering expanding the program to non-wartime veterans.
County Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott sought a council vote on the expansion after learning about the issue from Anthony Hall, a veteran disabled outside a period of war. Hall told council he had received the property tax exemption for his prior residence in Georgia and was upset to learn it was not provided here when he relocated to Wilkes-Barre approximately seven months ago to be closer to family.
Council moved the matter from the voting agenda to work session Tuesday due to legal analysis performed by county Assistant Solicitor Jarrett Ferentino that concluded counties lack authority to alter eligibility requirements.
However, a majority of council members ended up voicing support Tuesday for proceeding with the expansion at the next voting meeting in two weeks. They heard from several veterans seeking the expansion and noted that several other counties already have implemented the expansion without any legal problems. State legislators have failed to take action to address the non-wartime exclusion, some noted.
County officials had estimated 19 non-wartime disabled veterans would have been eligible to collectively receive exemption of a total $14,660 in county real estate taxes. The county cannot mandate expansion for school and municipal taxes.