News

Due to the Borough of Tamaqua’s participation as a pilot for the CRIZ (City Revitalization and Improvement Zone) Program, funds totaling $571,022.81 have come back to the CRIZ. These funds will now be eligible to be reinvested into the community through the parcels located in the designated CRIZ.

The City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ) program was established by Act 52 of 2013 and amended under Act 84 of 2016 to encourage new growth in areas that have been underutilized.  The only two cites in Pennsylvania that are included in the program are Lancaster and Bethlehem.  Tamaqua is fortunate to be the only Borough in the Zone via the CRIZ pilot program which is administered by the Department of Revenue, the Department of Community and Economic Development and the Governor’s Budget Office. A CRIZ is an area of up to 130 acres, comprised of parcels designated by an authority to capture state and local taxes for the purpose of improvement and development in the designated CRIZ zone. CRIZ funding can be used for debt service, property acquisition, new construction and other costs related to development projects in the zone. The program is used to revive downtown areas by being available for both new businesses and the expansion of existing businesses to attract development, improve underutilized real estate and encourage local business expansion to create new jobs.

All qualified businesses, including construction contractors, within a CRIZ must complete annual state and local tax reports by June 15 each year so the Department of Revenue and local tax authority may certify the amount of taxes to be transferred to the CRIZ Fund. Qualified businesses that fail to timely submit complete CRIZ tax reports will be subject to a non-filing penalty of the lesser of 10 percent of taxes attributed to the CRIZ or $1,000 for each late or non-filed report during the previous calendar year. Taxes paid by a contractor or qualified business that failed to timely submit a complete CRIZ tax report will not be included in the amount transferred to the CRIZ Fund.

Monthly CRIZ Authority meetings (that are open to the public) are held on the third Monday at 6:00 p.m. at the Tamaqua Borough in the Council Chambers. There is potential for a meeting the first Monday of the month as well, but this is subject to change.  Call the Borough at 570.668.0300 to verify meeting dates and times. To file the annual report, either you or your tax preparer can log on to: https://www.etides.state.pa.us/ (Click on “NIZ/CRIZ Report” on the menu on the left.)