Reading leaders had better work hard to achieve state tax-rule benefits

by Steve Reinbrecht

Are Lancaster and Allentown thriving because crime is down, as claimed in two recent stories in the award-winning Reading Eagle, Berks County's primary news source?

I bet those cities are reviving not only because of police strategy but more because the state has granted them new tax rules to spur development. In the simplest way I can put it, they can create NIZes and CRIZes -- Something Something Investment Zones. [excruciating details here]

Bethlehem has a similar designation, and millions of dollars of investment are pouring in there.

The state rejected Reading's application in 2013. Reading's application was pathetic compared to Lancaster's and Bethlehem's.

The Bethlehem application detailed 11 projects calling for more than $587 million in investment.

Lancaster had eight projects listed, with investment topping $210 million.

Reading's had three projects calling for $27 million in investment: the Callowhill Building at Fifth and Penn, which Al Boscov's Our City Reading owns; the Abe Lincoln Hotel at Fifth and Washington streets, which developer Alan Shuman owns; and an industrial site, though which one was "unclear at this point."



The state will choose the next two cities to get CRIZes in 2016.

From the Eagle on May 8: "Peter Rye, chairman of the Reading CRIZ, said projects and developers are urgently needed. 'Anything we can do to help accelerate the process would be welcome," Rye said.' "

I hope the Eagle follows this process to see how Berks County leaders are putting together a better application, because they're all in this together, right?


In Bethlehem, the biggest impact could come from plans to convert an old industrial building into a $106.5 million shopping complex anchored by a Bass Pro Shops. That store alone could draw 2 million visitors a year and result in another hotel and convention center.

The Eagle acknowledges how the state helped Allentown:

"And that [development] was driven, in large part, by the special taxing district created by state law in 2009.

"Called the Neighborhood Improvement Zone, or NIZ, the taxing district is fueling more than $1 billion in downtown development. Today, those redevelopment dollars are transforming the urban blight that was Center City into a metropolitan living space with the PPL Center arena, upscale retail space and luxury apartments."

The real news here is that joining these state programs is really, really important. Even better than that crime is falling, which is happening everywhere, the NIZes and CRIZes help explain why some cities are getting new jobs and businesses and some aren't.

All four cities share similar demographics -- large numbers of poor people, recent immigrants and underfunded public schools.

But Lancaster's and Bethlehem's economic-development people evidently kick Reading's booster's asses.