HARRISBURG —State Sen. John Wozniak (D-Johnstown) said that a new Senate Republican plan to create development zones to help small cities is exclusionary because it deprives most municipalities a unique opportunity to revitalize underdeveloped areas.
“The program needs to be fair, equitable and inclusive,” Wozniak said. “This plan is exclusionary, and that’s wrong,” Wozniak said. “We should let all third class cities apply and then choose which cities can participate based on the merits of their proposed revitalization programs.”
“That’s the best way to make this process fair.”
The new program language was amended into the Tax Code bill associated with the 2013-14 state budget (House Bill 465). It authorizes the creation of the City Revitalization and Improvement Zones (CRIZ) within eligible cities but excludes cities which have less than 30,000 residents.
Senate Democrats attempted to amend the bill in the Appropriations Committee to include all municipalities in the program, but that was turned aside by the Republican majority.
The CRIZ would permit the reinvestment of state and local tax revenues generated in designated zones for projects that revitalize eligible vacant, blighted and/or abandoned properties for commercial, exhibition, hospitality, conference, retail community and mixed-use purposes.
“The plan only includes a handful of the state’s third class cities and it excludes cities that need help such as Johnstown,” Wozniak said. “I am troubled that the Republican majority took this route and prevented many cities from participating in the program.”
Only eight cities out of 53 third class cities are eligible to participate in the program.