ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Recently introduced legislation would make the revenues of Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone more transparent.
State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh/Bucks, is sponsoring a bill that would make public the names of the businesses in the special taxing zone self-reporting their income.
That would let the public see what kind of revenue was being disclosed, such as cigarette taxes, personal income and utility gross receipts.
- The bill would let the public see the kinds of revenue the Allentown NIZ was taking in
- Former state Sen. Pat Browne made that tax information confidential in 2021 by amending the law
- State Sen. Jarrett Coleman said that without the data, it's impossible to know if the NIZ is successful in driving economic development
The NIZ is a special tax zone that incentivized developers to invest in parts of Center City Allentown by letting them use state taxes and local earned income tax to pay off debts.
The development authority said last year that it produced a record $94.5 million in state and local tax revenue in 2021.
Coleman, a former Parkland School Board member, defeated Republican state Sen. Pat Browne in last year’s GOP primary.
Browne, the longtime chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, created the Allentown NIZ in 2009. Gov. Josh Shapiro nominated Browne to be Secretary of Revenue this year.
Browne shielded tax revenue the NIZ collected in 2021 from public view after The Morning Call newspaper in 2019 requested to get the total revenues generated by each tax collected by the NIZ for 2016-18 from the Department of Revenue, the same department Browne now heads.
He amended the fiscal code, making “reports” on taxes confidential information, among other changes. The amendment specifically applied retroactively to Jan. 1, 2016.
That led a commonwealth judge to reject the newspaper’s attempt to get the information in December 2021.
“I’m constantly talking to people who go down to the NIZ and they’ll tell me ‘It seems like a ghost town down here.' And then they go over to Bethlehem and they’re like ‘Wow, Bethlehem’s just thriving.’”State Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-Lehigh/Bucks)
Public needs to know
Coleman said the public needs to see the buckets of taxes the NIZ is collecting to know whether the NIZ has been successful in driving economic development.
“I’m constantly talking to people who go down to the NIZ and they’ll tell me ‘It seems like a ghost town down here,’” he said. “And then they go over to Bethlehem and they’re like ‘Wow, Bethlehem’s just thriving.’”
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said he had not seen the bill so he couldn’t comment.
NIZ Development Authority Executive Director Steve Bamford said in an email that NIZ officials interpret the legislation as being about how the commonwealth is required to handle confidential taxpayer information. He added that ANIZDA's audited financial statements are available to the public.
A spokesman for the state Revenue Department pointed LehighValleyNews.com to Browne’s comments to the Morning Call in 2022.
At that time, Browne said he changed the law to address a loophole where it was possible that the public could obtain every corporate tax return filed with the state because they were considered “reports.”
State Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh, said Tuesday that he voted for Browne’s amendment and still supports it.
“The state has an absolute right to be able to keep certain tax information private and that’s a well-standing tradition all over the place,” Schweyer said.
“My personal taxes aren’t anybody’s business unless I choose to make them. It’s no different for corporations and businesses.”
Existing businesses, not new ones
Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel with the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said her organization supports legislation that increases transparency and accountability.
“This bill would restore public access rights and allow Pennsylvanians to better understand specialized investment zones and how their tax dollars are being spent,” Melewsky said in an email.
In a statement, state Sen. Nick Miller, D-Lehigh/Northampton, said he also believes Allentown’s NIZ should have its expenses publicly scrutinized and reviewed.
“However, it’s undeniable that the NIZ is an asset to the entire Lehigh Valley, creating and sustaining hundreds of jobs, helping many small businesses thrive, and bolstering our region’s competitive advantage in retaining and attracting new businesses to the region,” Miller said in an email.
“Additionally, the Allentown School District benefitted from more than $8 million in new real estate property taxes from development in the NIZ last year, a number that will only grow annually as development within the NIZ increases.”
Coleman said he’s concerned that existing businesses that already were in Allentown are moving into the NIZ — rather new ones that would bring jobs and economic development.
'I don't govern that way'
He said he hasn’t discussed his bill with other Allentown lawmakers.
“I’m not so sure how many local politicians have received money from organizations that are involved in the NIZ,” he said.
“And so as an outsider to politics, I was always amazed when I found out how much money would come from business within an area. So as an outsider, it’s easy for me to come in and say it doesn’t make sense.
"I want to look at this, I want to understand this.'”
Schweyer and Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, said they were confused why Coleman sent out a news release about the bill instead of discussing it with fellow lawmakers.
“Our legislators have worked together constantly,” Schweyer said. “Democrats, Republicans, previous political beefs or not. You put all that stuff aside because our job is to improve the lives of our constituents.
"I don’t govern the way Sen. Coleman apparently wants to, by putting out press releases.”
The legislation is currently before the Senate Finance Committee. Miller is the minority chair of the committee.
