ASD School Superintendent Recommends LERTA Approvals
Armstrong School District School Superintendent Chris DeVivo recommends board directors pass four pending LERTA tax abatement resolutions to promote growth in the local municipalities and the district Monday evening.
by Jonathan Weaver
Armstrong School District board directors will vote Monday evening whether to approve tax abatement resolutions in four local municipalities.
But, School Superintendent Chris DeVivo said after meeting with County Commissioners Pat Fabian, Jason Renshaw and George Skamai for more than an hour last week, he recommended school directors honor the pending resolutions.
“As a result of that meeting, we came out and really believe that we need to honor the requests made by the municipalities moving forward,” DeVivo said. “We don’t believe there’s any harm in offering the LERTA programs in each of those municipalities.
“We need to work hand-in-hand in an effort to try to spur some kind of development –residential, commercial, industrial, whatever it might be – in an effort to expand the tax base in this county. Any program that can give that a boost, I think we should be supportive of.”
The approved Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) designations would allow for residents that increase the property value of their homes or businesses to receive a tax break for up to 10 years.
At various times since December, Manor Township, Bethel Township, East Franklin Township and North Buffalo Township have all waited for final approval from both tax bodies.
Board Directors Stan Berdell, Paul Lobby and Rick Mulroy, along with DeVivo and Business Manager Sam Kirk, met with County Commissioners March 4 to discuss the pending agreements.
Berdell said he was “encouraged” at the meeting with the turnout from many different departments.
In addition to school board officials last week, Commissioner Chair Pat Fabian said the trio of commissioners and administration directors also met with County Tax Claim Director Jeanne Englert, Planning and Development Executive Director Rich Palilla and County Assessment Board Member Dan Burk.
“It showed a sense of cooperation,” Berdell said. “The new commissioners are looking to promote our county, and this is just another tool to help them do that.”
Lobby added that commissioners said it would be easier to market the program if it was uniform.
Board President Joseph Close originally said the original hope was to offer a blanket abatement program, but officials found out that can the tax abatements can only be offered if requested by the individual municipalities.
Manor Township Supervisor Chair Paul Rearick has been waiting since December to see if school directors and county commissioners would pass the tax abatement. He was pleased with DeVivo’s recommendation last night.
“I think that’s wonderful news,” Rearick said. “Speaking for myself, that (would) help Manor Township continue to move forward as we have in the last number of years.”
School Board President Joseph Close talks about the pending resolutions with Solicitor Lee Price - who before had given school directors a range of options in regard to the resolutions after school directors had questions.
Since January, at least four residents have submitted applications to build new in the township and thus participate in the tax abatement.
North Buffalo Township supervisors just passed their LERTA ordinance a few weeks ago, but Supervisor Chair Dave Wolfe was still glad DeVivo recommended final approval.
He said supervisors specifically passed a six-year LERTA program to both help North Buffalo grow and shorten the timeframe before the full amount of taxes is owed.
“I think when (school directors) look at it, the overall picture is going to be positive for them,” Wolfe said.
According to DeVivo, 114 properties currently take advantage of the tax abatement program, with a trio of properties as a result of new development.
Commissioner Fabian said the trio of commissioners will consider each tax abatement ordinance as they are presented.
“We agreed that as individual municipalities (pass resolutions), whether they be industrial, commercial or residential, the school district and the County would follow suit,” Fabian said. “As (individual municipality agreements) come through, we will adopt those as well.”
Monday’s business meeting begins at 7:30PM at West Hills Intermediate in East Franklin Township.
Kirk is also expected to give a budget update at Monday’s meeting.
Armstrong School District | jweaver March 11, 2016
By ktown_kid, March 11, 2016 @ 7:47 AM
Why don’t you work on how to reduce or eliminate the current tax rate. You are driving people out of their homes in this district for your overspending. People are losing their jobs everyday and nobody buys in this area along with no new business come due to your high tax rate.
By jorn jensen, March 11, 2016 @ 10:23 AM
Folks, understand what LERTA does - and it is not made clear in this news piece. LERTA does just what this article states and these people are endorsing - it adds tax base in the long haul - but, in the short haul, those of us paying full taxes will pay those plus the tax savings that are generated for outfits granted LERTA tax savings.
Why? Because government won’t cut back spending amount to match the LERTA savings amount for those LERTA properties.
The budget is still the budget - the total tax load is still the total tax load - it is just distributed a little differently - some will pay more as some will pay less for a while. When their LERTA years run out, say 6 years for North Buffalo, then they’ll be paying full taxes, but your temporarily-increased taxes won’t then be reduced. You’re already at the comfort level, or discomfort level, of paying those taxes for others, so, in government view, let’s not mess with the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Ideal LERTA would be local government, county, municipalities, whatever, cutting spending to allow the few years’ tax savings for LERTA properties and then reaping the benefits of the full taxes further on down the road. It still wouldn’t be totally ‘fair’ to regular tax payers because they’re carrying more burden for the same value of property. But, in the property tax game, there’s never true fairness. One of many good reasons for property tax elimination and a switch to increased sales and income taxes - a direct percentage applied to ‘moving money’.
LERTA can be made less painful for all with sharp people involved in government. Around here, you don’t hear much about spending cuts in government. It takes those elusive sickofpayforit tax-trees-seeds being planted to come to fruit.
By Jerri, March 13, 2016 @ 2:03 PM
Why not? After all the KOZs and LERTA programs that we have had in place for over a decade have done so much for our area already! KOZs encourage companies to take advantage of no taxes for ten years and then what? Good bye Armstrong County, we’re closing up shop! Now they want to vote for more LERTAs and no doubt they will. Just looking at the group of representatives from the school district is enough to show that. Former superintendent Kerr’s former henchman Mulroy, narcissistic Lobby, and Berdell (we all know whose puppet he is)! DeVivo will say anything they want. After all, he’s being paid handsomely to do so.
The previous LERTAs were used to to supposedly develop business in downtown Ford City and Kittanning. Take a look at both streets. How much new business or building improvements were made? Who benefitted? Now let’s look who pays the deficit while these people enjoy the benefits of reduced taxes? It’s us! We people who were dumb enough to vote these selfish clowns into office thinking they would never build a school we can’t afford and keep spending down when all they keep doing is adding expenses! Now they want to give outrageous tax breaks once again in the guise of encouraging new growth! Here’s something to try instead. How about quit raising taxes and find a way to lower them? Make some serious cuts and quit spending. Make this a place that people aren’t losing their homes due to taxes so that businesses would want to move here!
I remember the famous motto of the group these school board members were a part of called The People for Progress. The said people that make more than $60k per year are attracted to new schools and businesses are attracted to areas where people make more than $60k per year. The new school is built. Where are the businesses? Where are the people making 60k a year to bring them here? Answer that school board members and start giving the regular folks breaks instead of the same groups of people over and over.
By jorn jensen, March 13, 2016 @ 6:29 PM
Jerri, well-written piece. How many of the 15 commissioner candidates pushed ‘cutting taxes and bringing in business/industry?’.
This area is very clear - 600 county employees rule.
By sickofpayingforit, March 15, 2016 @ 7:53 PM
The big picture view is the commissioner’s have a major uphill battle here. Armstrong County is seriously outdated. Major business move here? Why would they for any other reason than to get some form of tax break. I understand Jorn’s and Jerri’s points. I am playing this down the middle and asking what other options do the commissioner’s have to lure employee-generating business here? If they have to compete for business, these tax breaks may be the biggest chip in that game.
Jorn, I know you are one of the few who realize that ALL the taxes, you and I pay, count as our money being taken by “the man”. So, we may not see a county-level dividend on these moves, but perhaps a business that comes in hires 10 people that lessens, or eliminates, some form of government entitlement that they were previously receiving? Still a win. A very small win, but jobs are jobs. Every person paying his/her own way is one less person I am paying for when the government takes the equivalent of a new vehicle off me every year. Hard to see any job as a bad thing with this scenario.
By jorn jensen, March 18, 2016 @ 9:14 AM
Good points, sickofpayingforit.
One thing of caution, sickofpayingforit - we’ve had LERTA and KOZ for years. How’s that going for Armstrong County?
The problem is bigger than Armstrong County. It is a state and national problem, and commissioners’ jobs, in addition to ‘running the county’, is to get audiences with these other upper government decision makers (including school boards - not ‘uppers’) and bring about the change that is needed to make Armstrong County enticing to business and industry. One example - Pennsylvania is in the dark ages with respect to Right-to-Work legislation. We are in the dark ages on property tax elimination. We sent a guy to Harrisburg, about 12 years ago, or so, to set the state on fire on this topic. And what do we hear? Nothing.
Wonder why the liberals haven’t touched this LERTA topic?