Tamaqua will receive approximately $2.72 million through the City Revitalization and Improvement Zone program.

It marks yet another year of record funding for the borough’s CRIZ.

“This is the fifth year in a row of an increase over the year before,” Tamaqua CRIZ Authority Chairman David Mace said.

The recent announcement came from Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne, who noted that Tamaqua is among five CRIZ communities to receive a total of $23.9 million in tax revenues this year to support economic development and revitalization.

“The year-over-year growth that we have seen in the tax increment coming back to the community, to me, is a testament of the power of the program itself,” Mace said.

CRIZ funding helps revitalize downtowns, redevelops vacant and rundown properties, attracts new businesses and creates jobs.

Most recently in Tamaqua, the funds have been used to help the Tamaqua Area Community Partnership acquire the former Rite-Aid building, which was recently transformed into the new Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry satellite campus. It also helped Miracle Ford acquire the former Rottet Motors and has been used to advance a new Small Business Financial Assistance Loan program.

CRIZ helps with infrastructure, too, and funding will help the Tamaqua Water Authority extend a 12-inch water line in the area of the former Jamesway to open opportunities for future commercial development, Mace said.

Tamaqua was part of the CRIZ program since 2014, along with the cities of Bethlehem and Lancaster. The cities of Erie and Reading were recently added as CRIZ communities.

“Since its beginning, the CRIZ program has delivered a total of nearly $126 million to participating communities, helping them to attract development, revitalize their downtowns, and bring new jobs to their regions,” Browne said. “This program is a proven model that has been a critical tool for growth in Bethlehem, Lancaster and Tamaqua. Now we’re seeing that successful blueprint being used to help Erie and Reading revitalize their cities.”

Tamaqua’s CRIZ funding is based on last year’s activity, with the borough receiving $2,272,547.82

Brown explained the breakdown, noting that the total amount “reflects $1,342,002.65 state taxes remitted between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, by 56 businesses, as defined under Act 13 as ‘new businesses’ within the program, $929,458.40 in incremental tax growth by 137 businesses with an established baseline and $1,086.77 by two construction contractors.”

Last year, Tamaqua received $2 million in CRIZ funding based on 2024 revenues. In 2024, it received $1.7 million from the previous year, up from $1.6 million in 2023 and $1.1 million in 2022.

“The growth of the number itself represents the contributions of over 100 businesses in our downtown, each seeing year-over-year increases in their respective goods and services,” Mace said. “All that means is that our downtown business community is continuing to thrive.”

Tamaqua CRIZ funding also established a Small Business Grant program, helped with the expansion of the Head Start program and transformed a blighted property into the Bischoff Inn.

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.

The program is similar to a tax incremental financing program. It is structured to protect the existing state and local tax base, while providing incremental funding for tax revenues based on new growth generated over and above an established baseline.

The funds are paid to the local development authority for the zone, and can be used for debt service, property acquisition, new construction and other costs related to development projects in the zone.

The CRIZ program is administered by the Department of Revenue, the Department of Community and Economic Development and the Governor’s Budget Office.

Through the latest round of CRIZ distributions, Bethlehem received $2.4 million; Erie received $6.9 million; Lancaster received $12 million and Reading received $185,000.

“I just think that exciting things are still to come for our community because of this program,” Mace said.