S. WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. – The Parkland School District Board of Directors tabled a state tax incentive program to benefit a major land development project Tuesday night at the administration building.
The Local Economic Revitalization Tax Act, or LERTA, would benefit a proposed $3.5 billion pharmaceutical plant by Eli Lilly and Company in Upper Macungie Township. The project, the largest-ever Lehigh Valley economic development proposal, is slated for the Fogelsville Corporate Center located near Adams Road and Interstate 78.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through LERTA, allows taxing bodies to establish areas which are distressed or underutilized to provide tax incentives through local property tax abatements for new construction or improvements in designated revitalization zones. The LERTA encourages development by phasing in taxes on the increased improvement value over several years. The span is typically 10 years with the abatement diminishing over time.
The taxing body imposes conditions on the developer which must be met to qualify. Each year, the developer submits improvement value to the county assessor’s office to be considered in the property’s assessment and abatement. Property owners in LERTA districts must still pay full taxes on their land, as the abatement applies only to the increased property value resulting from improvements.
Tuesday night’s tabled document allows for 50% of eligible improvements to be exempted for 10 years.
Superintendent Mark Madson requested the board table the LERTA document.
“I do believe that there is an opportunity for us to discuss and review the terms in this agreement,” Madson said.
The superintendent provided no other information, nor did the district indicate as to when the issue would be reconsidered.
The LERTA must be approved by each of the property’s three taxing bodies — Parkland School District, Lehigh County and Upper Macungie Township — for their respective real estate taxes. On March 5, the township approved the Lilly LERTA.
According to an announcement from Lilly and Gov. Josh Shapiro in January, plans for the pharmaceutical giant’s Lehigh Valley campus call for 925,000 square feet of manufacturing space across multiple buildings. The project is expected to create 850 jobs over the next five years, they said.
Upper Macungie approved a LERTA district to offer tax abatements on improvements and new construction at Eli Lilly’s proposed campus.
The company was wooed to the area thanks in part to a $100 million funding proposal from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
The DCED pledged up to $50 million in tax credits through the PA Edge Tax Credit Program, a $25 million grant through the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites Program, and a $25 million Pennsylvania First grant.
The state has also committed to providing a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program award of up to $5 million to Lehigh Carbon Community College to help create a workforce development training program that would serve as a talent pipeline for the company in the Lehigh Valley.
In addition, Lilly is receiving an assist from the PA Permit Fast Track Program, which was created by Shapiro in November 2024 to streamline the permitting process for economic development and infrastructure projects that are deemed priorities.