Goal: More jobs at business park

Hopewell Township officials last week urged the South Eastern school board to sign on for three more years of industrial tax forgiveness, saying it’s critical to the area’s ability to attract jobs.

“Without this, we will not be able to compete,” Hopewell Township supervisor Bill Street said of the LERTA exemption for the Stonebridge business and industrial park off Route 851 near Interstate 83.

LERTA, or Local Economic Revitalization Tax Act, is a state policy that allows taxing authorities—including municipalities and school districts—to waive taxes on new buildings for 10 years on a sliding scale. The buildings receive total forgiveness the first year, pay 10 percent the second year, 20 percent the third year and so on. The land is still taxed.

Hopewell already renewed its LERTA commitment with a vote at the supervisors’ Oct. 5 meeting, but Street says South Eastern’s participation is important.

Six years in: Stonebridge has fallen under LERTA provisions for six years, having been originally adopted by the township and the school district in 2000 and renewed in 2003. Street says both entities have until the first of the year to re-up.

“When we hear about growth (in this area), we hear about residential growth. We feel (Stonebridge) is our best opportunity for industrial development,” said Hopewell Township manager Pat Schaub. Only industrial buildings—not commercial buildings—are exempted, so, for example, the Hampton Inn, Ruby Tuesday and Cracker Barrel sites in Stonebridge are fully taxed.

The school board seemed receptive. “We certainly want to support everything that’s going to drive the economy and jobs,” said board member Todd Lowe. Board president Dick Wilson said the panel would review figures at a meeting today, but the preliminary impression was that the district wouldn’t lose much, and the upside was described as significant. Street said there are about 90 acres left to be developed in Stonebridge, and Schaub said at least two industrial businesses are looking at lots. She would not name them.

Not a guarantee: LERTA provides an incentive for site selection, but sometimes it’s not enough. Schaub noted that the food flavoring firm McCormick and Co. considered Stonebridge before choosing to build a large facility in Hunt Valley, Baltimore County. Maryland officials sized up Pennsylvania’s tax break package and topped it.

“You can’t win them all. You just keep trying,” Street said. “Hopefully you get some of them.”

Success stories, according to Street and Schaub, have included Baltimore Steel Erectors, Wellspan and Oakworks, a manufacturer of massage tables that Street said has expanded substantially since it relocated from Glen Rock several years ago.

-- Reach Damon B. Boughamer at 854-1575 or news@yorkdispatch.com.