Editorial “Pa.’s leper colonies” opines: “Why does the state Legislature continue to treat Pennsylvania’s small cities like leper colonies?”…
“Roughly 30 percent of the properties in the city are tax exempt.”…
“Unlike Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, the city is not permitted to levy an additional 1 percent sales tax.”…
WATCHDOG: Although in general sympathetic to their thesis, we note both irony and also danger in some of their observations.
The most outlandish example of abuse of tax exempt status is the Marriott Hotel of which the Lancaster Newspapers is a 50% equitable owner. The real estate tax exemption was finagled by having the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster (RACL) own the property with a sweet heart deal that allows the profits to flow to Penn Square Partners and then, when the mortgage is paid off, for the property to be sold to them at a very low price.
As for a 1% additional sales tax on citywide purchases, this would just about be the death knell for downtown business and Park City. We tried this with the 5% hotel room sales tax which has crippled the tourist industry.
Thanks for pointing out the obvious, which LNP evidently is clueless about. The Hotel/Convention center will ultimately prove to be the reason for Downtowns’ demise, not renaissance.
The power brokers that forced this upon the city and county should be ashamed and somehow held accountable.