County mulls TIFs linked to corruption

Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla has asked the county solicitor to research whether the county could get out of tax diversion programs that are linked to corruption.

Former Commissioner Greg Skrepenak and former county Redevelopment Authority Director Allen Bellas have both pleaded guilty to accepting bribes associated with tax diversion programs that were approved by county government.

These Tax Incremental Financing programs, known as TIFs, require taxing bodies to give up tax revenue from new construction in a development. The land owner pays the taxes, but the money is used to fund infrastructure improvements needed to develop the site.

“With all the people pleading guilty to bribery with TIFs, I want to see if there is any way for us to negate a TIF awarded by the county that is tied to corruption,” Petrilla said.

Bellas acknowledged that he accepted $2,000 from a construction contractor in 2008 in exchange for helping a contractor secure approval of a TIF.

The charges didn’t identify the contractor, but several sources say it was for the Insignia Point Courtyards townhouse project in Jenkins Township. Skrepenak pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting $5,000 in exchange for supporting a TIF in Jenkins Township.

The charges say Skrepenak made a motion to approve the TIF at the January 2008 commissioners meeting, and the only TIF on that agenda was for the Insignia Point Courtyards project.

Local developer Anthony Trombetta was involved in the Insignia Point project. He owns Intellacom, a computer and security system company that has been investigated by the FBI in recent months in connection with its school district contracts. Trombetta has not responded to numerous requests for comments, and the phone at Intellacom has been disconnected.

County minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he supports researching the matter.

“I believe we should look into rescinding that agreement and whether we have legal authority to break it, especially if it’s proven that it was brought through fraud and deception,” Urban said.

Urban said the county may also be able to reclaim tax money diverted into a TIF if the county establishes that the developer and/or owner were engaged in criminal activities.

Bellas marketed TIFs to taxing bodies when he worked as redevelopment authority director.

When he approached commissioners about the Insignia Courtyard TIF, Bellas said the taxes would be used to pay off $1.1 million in infrastructure loans needed to ready the site for town houses on 13 acres.

The county, township and Pittston Area School District would have to wait 12 years to start collecting taxes on the improvements because it was estimated that it would take that long to pay off the loan, he said at the time.