Wednesday, May 19, 2004
An accounting firm approached the county about the tax-exempt status.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Dr. David Hamilton and Thomas and Christy Whittaker didn't ask for tax-exempt status for their property off of King's Chapel Road, but all say they will take it.
Michael Parrish, a Pittsburgh attorney representing Hamilton and the Whittakers, appeared Tuesday before Lawrence County commissioners to try to clarify the issue.
Commissioners postponed action on a resolution last week that would declare the property tax-exempt. The postponement occurred because the Whittakers, Hamilton and their attorney did not tell commissioners the property was part of a tax-exempt Keystone Opportunity Extension Zone when a general questioned was posed about it at a hearing just before that meeting.
The KOEZ designation is given by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development in an effort to attract businesses and create new jobs to economically depressed areas. Businesses in KOEZs are exempt from all local and state taxes for 10 years.
Redevelopment plan
The matter of the Hamilton and Whittaker properties became an issue during the May 11 hearing when commissioners were considering a redevelopment plan for the area. The plan would allow the county redevelopment authority to take both pieces of property by eminent domain.
Eminent domain is the government's right to take private property, usually in exchange for fair compensation.
The Whittakers and Hamilton are the last two property owners holding out in a 500-acre tract of land being developed as Millennium Park, a high-technology business park that has been courting a microchip manufacturer promising 2,000 new jobs.
State officials have agreed to give tax-exempt status to about 200 acres of the property to help the development along.
Commissioner Ed Fosnaught asked during the hearing whether the Hamilton and Whittaker properties were in the KOEZ, but Hamilton, the Whittakers and their attorney remained silent.
Instead, Jim Gagliano, the county planning director, said he believed the boundaries of the zone were not set yet.
Upset over silence
But at the meeting immediately after the hearing, commissioners were asked to approve tax-exempt status for Hamilton and the Whittakers. One of their attorneys remained for the meeting to ensure that occurred. Commissioners tabled the matter, upset that the landowners did not respond when the question was posed when it appeared they had known their property was to be in the tax-exempt zone.
Fosnaught had voted against a county redevelopment plan, but said his vote might have been different if he had known about the tax-exemption the landowners were pursuing.
The redevelopment plan did pass with the votes of Commissioners Dan Vogler and Steve Craig.
Parrish, however, said it was not his place to answer the question last week because he was acting as an attorney, not a witness at the hearing.
It was a letter sent by Parrish to his clients that got the tax-exempt status matter started, said Lawrence County's Chief Assessor Mary Bullano.
Bullano said Carbis Walker, an accounting firm working for the property owners, had sent a request that both properties be taken off the tax rolls.
Bullano said she asked for proof that they should be tax-exempt, and Carbis Walker sent a letter written by Parrish to his clients in April informing them of the tax benefits.
Parrish said last week that his clients want to negotiate with the Lawrence County Economic Development Agency, the group handling property acquisition, but felt that they had not been offered enough money for their land.
Officials have said the Whittakers were offered $1.1 million for their 83 acres, which includes a new home. Hamilton owns 2.35 acres that contain a rental property that has a business and a residential rental tenant. Officials have not said how much money Hamilton was offered, but county assessment records show it was valued at $123,900 in the 2002 county reassessment.
The Lawrence County Redevelopment Authority is meeting at 1 p.m. next Wednesday to consider filing eminent domain papers on both properties.
cioffi@vindy.com