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Sunday, February 04, 2001 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 6 





Age-old complaint &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 needs new answers &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If Gov. Tom Ridge is offering tax breaks to entice new businesses into your
town, your local officials had better slap on their stamps of approval. Right? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Maybe, maybe not. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tomorrow night, the East Union Township supervisors will vote on a
committee's recommendations that township sites be designated Keystone
Opportunity Expansion Zones. Hazle Township supervisors will vote on sites
within their borders on Feb. 12. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If the townships approve these zones, and if the state does so later,
businesses moving onto these sites will be exempt from state and local taxes
for up to 12 years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And what could be wrong with that? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Plenty, some area residents say, and we think those residents are worth
hearing out. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Local environmentalist Drew Magill of Sugarloaf, for example, raised
concerns at a recent Hazleton Area School Board meeting about some KOEZ sites
owned by CAN DO - Greater Hazleton's economic-development organization. Magill
insists development of open-space land around some of CAN DO's industrial
parks will upset the ecological balance of the area for one thing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Why offer companies prime green land with no taxes when plenty of
mine-scarred land could be developed? he asked. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Good question. The opportunity to get land-development money through the
governor's ``Growing Greener'' grants coupled with KOEZ tax breaks might be
more enticing to companies than tax breaks alone, not to mention the
environmental benefit. Plus, wasn't the original KOZ program started in 1999
aimed at blighted land? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 We also have to wonder, as Magill does, whether these potential newcomer
businesses will offer salaries high enough for struggling local residents to
handle a mortgage and car payment, eat decent meals and put something away for
a rainy day. And will they offer positions attractive enough to stem the
youthful exodus to technologically rich areas? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 We know that's an old question, but we think it's high time for some new
answers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It seems the only companies that have been attracted to our industrial
parks as of late are manufacturing firms, warehouses and call centers.
Residents know it, and they are beginning to express such opinions publicly
with increasing frequency. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now we can only hope the townships' supervisors will consider what their
constituents have to say before making a decision on KOEZ site approvals. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Meantime, locals who haven't spoken up would do well to make their opinions
known to their municipal leaders and the selection committee's local members,
CAN DO president Kevin O'Donnell and Hazleton Department of Community
Development staffer Carol DeStefano. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Maybe then we'll actually start seeing a real effort to lure bona fide
progressive business and industry to town, and maybe, too, we'll hear more
people start talking about Greater Hazleton as a place in which they're proud
they dropped anchor. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That the governor is willing to make life a little easier for already
wealthy land and business owners is fine and well. That his program could make
life a lot more tolerable for local constituents, however, is a keystone
opportunity indeed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Age-old Complaint Needs New Answers