The City of Williamsport has made it easier for those seeking to apply for residential, commercial, and industrial Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA).

City Council approved ordinances repealing and reenacting them following discussion with the finance committee and at the council meeting.

LERTA is tax abatement for new construction and improvements to properties.

Taxes don’t go down from enrolling, but the owner/developer receives tax relief from improvements made or new construction done on properties.

Those improvements typically increase the tax assessment but phases in the increase in assessment over a period of 10 years.

City treasurer Kevin Mackey has also been a strong advocate for the tax abatement programs and was disappointed with the county commissioners ending the county residential LERTA program.

The county has a commercial LERTA program but dropped its tax abatement for owners of residential properties.

Streamlining a document

Scott Williams, city planner and assistant director of the city economic and community development department, said when he started his new city job in April, he took over the application and approval process of the LERTA program.

He suspected then there was a more efficient way and that the process could be improved upon. He’s been working with Attorney Nicholas Grimes on the language and the draft ordinances were reviewed by solicitors.

Williams said he noticed areas where applications could be streamlined and to simplify that process.

The estimated addition to the city tax base from residential LERTA is $1.5 million, Williams said. For the commercial tax abatement program, it is $3.5 million.

While WAWA and Chick-fil-A took advantage of commercial tax abatement, Williams said he also found ways for residential owners of properties to more easily apply for this tax relief and city solicitors looked at this and verified the city could make the changes.

Grimes said the zones stay the same. The major changes are in regard to fees for the residential LERTA. The city has dropped the residential LERTA application fee and kept it the same terms for the commercial/industrial ordinance.

It also used to say applicants had to submit for the program at the time of the occupancy permit, which meant construction was done. Now, it is supposed to happen when a building permit is submitted.

The application is also now on a form prescribed by the city community and economic development. And the application must be in within 30 days of the time the building permit is submitted.

In commercial LERTA there are no longer federal opportunity zones.

The ordinance sets up terms for an appeals board for LERTA and that council can appoint such a board or if none is chosen council will serve as the board if someone challenges.

Councilman Eric Beiter noted how residential is citywide while commercial is for certain areas and Williams, knowing where Beiter was headed in his statement, suggested the limited commercial zones could be part of a review of commercial LERTA.

Enabling legislation allows any individual taxing body to approve their own LERTA without any other approvals.

Where it gets confusing is the municipality sets LERTA zones, Grimes said.

The county does not have authority, nor does the school district have authority to set LERTA zones, he explained.

Once the city approves the zones any of the three taxing bodies can approve abatement on their own, Grimes said.

Enabling legislation also allows the city to approve it based on pending approval of another taxing body.

As of today, the city is the only taxing body that has a residential program. The county dropped its residential LERTA, so the school was conditioned on the county also having it and let it lapse. The county has a commercial LERTA program.

The city wants to see all three taxing bodies have residential and commercial tax abatement programs.

Change is possible in the future.

“They can approve on their own or conditional on each other,” Grimes said.

Councilwoman Bonnie Katz asked Williams if t g e council, as it did before, get a list of those enrolled in LERTA.

Williams said that he would investigate that request and noted the ordinances require council to be given a report on LERTA in a fall meeting.