Tamaqua is now the first borough or township in Pennsylvania with a new state program designation that promises to funnel the community's tax dollars back to the municipality to stimulate growth.

On Tuesday, 85 business owners and others gathered at the Tamaqua Salvation Army Regional Community Center for a breakfast seminar to find out how the program, called CRIZ, works.Micah Gursky, president of Tamaqua Borough Council, offered a PowerPoint presentation that walked through highlights step-by-step.The focus of the program, said Gursky, is to provide opportunity to spur new growth, helping to revive downtowns and create jobs for the residents in the region.Vacant, desolate, underutilized or abandoned space will be developed, it is hoped, thereby creating jobs, increasing personal incomes, growing state and local tax revenues, reviving the local economy and improving the lives of residents and visitors.Gursky said the CRIZ process includes a multilevel approval procedure, but the concept is simple."There's nothing fancy about it," Gursky said. "It's not new money. But if we can help business out, we want to do it. This is our tax money coming back to us."Tamaqua's selection as Pennsylvania's first non-city to achieve CRIZ status didn't come by chance.Great promiseThe town qualified, in part, through existing programs and initiatives geared toward civic improvement.For example, the CRIZ program in Tamaqua includes properties falling within the town's Main Street District, Elm Street District, Tamaqua National Historical District, the Safety Initiative District and the Upper Floors Redevelopment District.Those district designations were formalized over the past 15 years and appeared routinely in the news."If you didn't know those districts exist, shame on you," Gursky noted.Addressing attendees via a Skype video connection, Sen. David G. Argall said the designation holds great promise and he urged attendees to become involved."We're the first small town in Pennsylvania that's been accepted into this. Whatever we get will be better than if we had done nothing at all," said Argall."I'm excited that Tamaqua has been accepted in the program. If you see a way to improve Tamaqua, clean it up and create jobs, please do something," he added.Tamaqua's CRIZ designation became effective on Dec. 31, 2014, and is a 30-year program."The clock is already ticking," Gursky said.297 parcelsLinda Marchak, treasurer of the Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce, commented on the number of eligible properties."There are 297 parcels," she said. That area includes 128.5 acres.Eligible businesses located in the zone are free to apply for CRIZ designation to finance their businesses and potentially create jobs.The CRIZ program works with revenues generated from taxes paid within the community.They include corporate taxes, bank share taxes, sales and use taxes and personal income taxes.A local authority has been appointed, chaired by resident Brian Connely.Use of CRIZ funds is restricted to payment of debt service, construction costs and employment of independent auditing firms and can help to fund acquisition costs.Funds may not be used for maintenance or repair work.Every $5 of awarded CRIZ money must be backed by one private dollar, or a 16.66 percent match.The first funds won't be available until October 2016.More information is available at 570-668-3444.CRIZ application forms are available at Tamaqua Borough Hall.