Palmyra Borough councilmen urge school board to accept tax abatement for luxury apartments

Two members of the Palmyra Borough Council spoke during last week's Palmyra Area School Board meeting requesting that the board seriously consider accepting a proposed tax abatement on a planned 92-unit luxury apartment complex.

They cited concerns that the borough and school district could be headed in the wrong direction if the board didn't act on the request.

The Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance request was presented to the school board at an Aug. 11 finance committee meeting by Jack DeCicco, owner of Ventura Real Estate Holdings, to redevelop the lot at 101 N. Harrison St.

The LERTA would relieve Ventura of tax payments on the property for a 10-year period. DeCicco is seeking 100% abatement for the first seven years, which would decline by 25% for each of the remaining three.

He said that the project would cost between $18 million and $21 million, and it would take about two years to complete.

The school board has not made a decision on the project, citing concerns on the possibility of having to pay for children who move into the building while not receiving the tax income required to teach them.

Education in Lebanon County:Lebanon School District officially moves forward with middle school project

Missing alligators: Two alligators missing, possibly stolen, from North Cornwall home

President of the school board Joshua Jones has expressed concerns that DeCicco has not been willing to compromise on how long the tax abatement would last, saying that he was not comfortable with making a 10-year decision for a school board in the future that he might not be on.

Both the county commissioners’ office and the Palymra Borough Council have expressed their support for the project.

At the Aug. 25 school board meeting, both Thomas Miller, vice president of the borough council, and council member Anthony Catalani II spoke during the visitor comment portion.

Miller said that if the school board did not consider the abatement, the property would likely be turned into low-cost housing or be taken over by Housing and Urban Development.

“If they put a 70-unit apartment complex, which they would plan to do if HUD would take it over, and each of those have two children,” he said, “because as we know most [low] cost housing they generally have more children.”

“In the world that we live in today they almost get paid to have children, and they get more money, and they know the system very well,” he said.

Miller argued that the luxury apartments would draw in more young professionals than families and that the cost of missing that tax money for 10 years while having to educate a dozen or so new students would far outweigh the strain a low-income housing complex might put on the district.

“There would be a language barrier because the low-cost housings generally has more non-speaking, English, and it would have an impact on the high school as well. We thought it could impact your rating as the best school district in Lebanon County,” he added.

Catalani backed Miller up by reiterating that low-income housing could take the area in the wrong direction, and that the current project is intended to house mostly young professionals who don’t have children. He also said that when thinking about deciding on the proposal, they should keep in mind that they would receive 25% of the taxes by the eighth year, 50% on the ninth, and 75% on the tenth.

“You gotta look at the long-term effects of where this town can go in a positive way or a negative way,” Catalani said. “I wasn’t around in the 60s or the 70s, but my mom sure tells me that Lebanon City was a beautiful, it was an amazing city, and the whole city has changed overnight. I don’t want that to happen here.”

Housing Authority weighs in

CEO of the Lebanon Housing Authority Bryan Hoffman was not at the meeting, but in a later interview said that some of the presumptions made about low-income housing may be a little off.

Hoffman said that as far as their current public housing waiting list goes, only about 6% of people are looking for large-family housing (four bedrooms or more).

Most people in the community looking for low-income housing are people looking for two-bedroom units. The housing authority only allows for two children per bedroom.

“You’re talking about mom and dad or single mom and two kids,” he said. “I don’t think that’s dramatically different than most middle-class families. Lots of families have two kids.”

About 30% of people looking for housing are looking for single-bedroom homes, mostly the elderly and single disabled people.

Lebanon County has seen a rise in Hispanic population over the years, however, that rise is not limited to income ranges, and is not limited to low income, Hoffman said.

About 30% of housing applicants are from Hispanic people, he said.

“I’m being frank with you, it’s not like Palmyra is this very wealthy suburb with no low-income people moving there,” he said. “I’m not sure the comment that that is not the best thing for the community necessarily reflects the current population of the community.”

Palmyra has a 17.1% poverty rate and a median household income of $54,752. The entire county has a poverty rate of 9% and a median household income of $61,632, according to Census.gov.

However, a project for people with higher income could potentially be of more benefit to the municipality for tax purposes, Hoffman said.

The housing authority is always looking for opportunities to expand affordable housing all over Lebanon County, he said.

The agenda for Palmyra Area School District’s Sept. 8 board meeting has not yet been set, and no motion has been made on the LERTA request as of now.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Palmyra School Board urged to OK tax abatement for luxury apartments