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A total of $2.88 million is up for grabs from an expired tax-break program, but it’s still unclear how it will be split among taxing bodies.
The money is from a Tax Incremental Financing, or TIF, program in which Luzerne County, the Wilkes-Barre Area School District and Wilkes-Barre Township sacrificed real estate tax revenue from new development along Highland Park Boulevard and at the Arena Hub Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township to fund infrastructure improvements on Highland Park and Mundy and Coal streets.
The amount of money left in the pot was unclear until this week because officials had not yet received all bills that must be paid before the money could be disseminated.
Members of the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority board overseeing the program voted this week to release a final $28,667 payment to the state transportation department.
The only remaining bill is 20 percent of a settlement with the Interfaith Heights Apartments over Wilkes-Barre’s taking of some of the development’s land to widen Coal Street.
City Solicitor Tim Henry said Wednesday the settlement was $1.2 million. The TIF must pay $240,000, or 20 percent, with the rest covered by the state, he said.
The TIF had a balance of $3.15 million Wednesday, which would leave $2.88 million after both bills are paid.
County Manager C. David Pedri said the county, school district and township have been working on an agreement to divide the remaining funds based on the percentages each contributed to the program.
Those percentages previously cited were: school district, 55; county, 42; and township, 3.
Under that formula, the county would receive $1.2 million while the payments would be $1.58 million for the district and $86,490 for the township.
County Councilman Stephen A. Urban and some of his colleagues have contested the school district’s entitlement to 55 percent of the remaining funding, saying the district never paid an additional $1 million it had agreed to contribute under a 2009 arrangement hammered out after the district skipped several years of payments.
Pedri stressed county council must approve a final agreement before payments are released.
“I hope to have the money in hand and have this matter closed out in 2017,” said Pedri, who wants to use the county share for deficit reduction.
The city did not sacrifice revenue for the program, but some city officials have argued a portion of TIF money should be left in the bank to further extend Coal Street.
Pedri said the taxing bodies have discussed this issue with city officials, but he declined to elaborate.
“We are hoping for a final amicable result to this project. The TIF has been a boom to the economy, but all parties would like to have this resolved.”