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By a 2-1 vote, Lebanon County Commissioners on March 20 granted a three-year LERTA extension for a planned 145-unit housing project in Palmyra Borough.
Ventura Real Estate owner Jack DeCicco asked commissioners to extend a prior Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) request from Sept. 1, 2025, through Sept. 1, 2028.
In September 2022, commissioners approved by a 2-1 vote a 10-year LERTA tax abatement for a planned 92-unit luxury apartment building in Palmyra. On both occasions, commissioners Mike Kuhn and Bob Phillips approved the requests and Jo Ellen Litz voted against them.
Read More: Commissioners approve tax abatement on luxury apartments in Palmyra
The abatement means the Philadelphia-based company will not have to pay any property taxes for seven years. In the eighth year they will pay 25 percent of their taxes, 50 percent in the ninth year, and 25 percent in year 10.
LERTA is a state program that allows local tax authorities to create exemptions for the redevelopment of blighted buildings. The property that was granted the abatement by commissioners is in the 100 block of North Harrison Street at an abandoned factory that’s been deteriorating for years.
DeCicco cited several reasons for the extension request.
“Elevated construction costs and interest rates continue to present challenges for many new construction projects,” DeCicco wrote in requesting the LERTA. “Since we met in September of 2022, we have tried engaging with the Palmyra Area School District to secure the same level of support we have received from the County of Lebanon and the Borough of Palmyra in order to bring our vision of a luxury apartment building to fruition.”
The Palmyra school board, however, has not wavered in opposing the LERTA request.
“After exploring every option possible with the school board, it has become clear that there is no level of assistance the school board is willing to provide for this project,” DeCicco said.
DeCicco told commissioners there have been two changes since September 2022. The plan has expanded to phases 2 and 3, which are an additional 53 units above the original proposal.
“The first is our commitment to explore every option possible to bring our vision to fruition,” DeCicco said. “The second is the support of the borough as evidenced by the zoning hearing board’s two-year extension of our zoning approvals, the maximum extension period permitted.”
DeCicco said he believes this is a “great project for the local community and the broader county.”
“Consequently, we’re exploring the possibility of a joint venture or a strategic partnership with larger regional developers,” he said. “We’re recently had preliminary discussions with a number of prospects and the county’s LERTA extension is a common concern.”
Here are details on each phase:
- Phase 1 – A 92-unit, three-story luxury apartment building with luxury amenities.
- Phase 2 – A 45-unit, three-story market rate or 55-plus community apartment building.
- Phase 3 – An eight-unit, two-story apartment building.
Kuhn and Phillips commended DeCicco for improving a blighted site and taking steps to remediate the hazardous site. DeCicco noted the hazardous property that contained toxic materials has been remediated and that the building is ready for demolition.
DeCicco said the property was a former shoe factory and later the site for a printing company. He noted that the bank that had a $1 million first mortgage on the property refused to pay the real estate taxes in order to take possession of it. “That should give you a sense of how bad things were,” he added.
Litz said the tax abatement is unfair to other taxpayers, citing farmers who pay their full share in taxes on properties they own, and that she respectfully doesn’t feel he deserves an extension for his project.
LebTown followed up with county administrator Jamie Wolgemuth asking if a new LERTA agreement was required since DeCicco was adding two phases to the project. Wolgemuth wrote to LebTown to say: “The LERTA applies to the land parcel. Whether the developer increases or decreases the value of the improvements to the parcel is irrelevant. The language in the Resolution describes the parcel only.”
New construction at Lebanon Valley Expo Center
In a separate matter involving real estate, Pat Kerwin, executive director of the Lebanon Valley Expo Center, asked the county to serve as a pass-through for a $4 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program state grant for the planned new arena project at the fairgrounds.
Kerwin stated the RACP grant is designed to spur economic activity, adding the grant funds must pass through another agency like a municipal government or a local authority to ensure the monies are spent for their intended purposes.
Expo officials plan to build a new arena that’s similar to North Hall. The size of the new structure is undetermined since the project is still in the design phase, according to Kerwin.
Commissioners granted the pass-through request by a unanimous vote.
In other business, commissioners voted unanimously to:
- Enter into a contract agreement with Gannett Fleming to design the county’s comprehensive plan. Half of the cost, or $88,500, is being paid through a Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development grant and the remainder by the county’s general fund ($51,500), and $37,000 through the county’s GIS program.
- Provide a hotel tax grant for Making a Difference of Lebanon PA for $400. The grant will support advertising for the 2025 Lebanon Coleman Park 5k event on April 19. The 2024 edition had participants from six counties and two other states, according to the group’s hotel tax grant application.
- Agree to purchase a four-door card reader system for $11,520.74 to enhance security at the Lebanon County Area Agency on Aging.
- Permit WellSpan Health to relinquish a $500,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Grant award, which was awarded in 2019. Since then, the proposed site location has shifted and WellSpan decided to return the funding to Pennsylvania’s coffers to be “a good steward of state funds.”
- Submit an Intermediate Punishment grant modification totaling $8,216 to return that funding to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency due to a reduction in expenses for a conference in State College and because a plan to purchase a facility dog for Probation Services won’t happen before the end of the year.
- Issue a number of proclamations, including the American Red Cross for March being American Red Cross Recognition month, 4-H week, Bleeding Disorders Awareness month, Pennsylvania 811 Safe Digging month, and an Eagle Scout proclamation for Nathan Drasher.
- Allow the Recorder of Deeds office to be open on Saturday, March 22, to allow the processing of Lebanon County veterans IDs and to register people for the department’s record alert program for property owners.
- Provide a full exemption from real estate taxes for a disabled veteran.
- Approve the minutes of their March 6 meeting, the treasurer’s report and various personnel transactions.
Lebanon County Commissioners meet the first and third Thursday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in Room 207 of the Lebanon County municipal building, 400 S. 8th St., Lebanon.
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