Palmerton has shot down a temporary tax abatement request to attract businesses.

On a 6-0 vote, with Councilman Kris Hoffner absent, borough council on Thursday denied a request from Northface Development for any Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance for any buildings on the property located just off Route 248.

Northface Development Chief Operating Officer George Petrole pitched the LERTA program to council last month.

The borough was one of three local taxing bodies - along with Palmerton Area School District and Carbon County - needed to support Northface.

Based off their meeting on Tuesday, Palmerton Area School District is likely headed for a no vote on the LERTA request.

Palmerton’s school board did not officially vote Tuesday, but does have a voting session coming up on April 20.

Representatives from the three governing bodies met March 31 to discuss the proposal.

All three would have had to agree to support the LERTA if it were to move forward.

Northface plans to build four roughly 500,000-square-foot warehouses, one each year starting in 2022, on the property located just off 248.

Before construction, however, it would enter into lease-to-own agreements with the companies who would occupy the warehouses.

Petrole said the anticipated 2 million square feet of transportation, logistic and warehouse project in Palmerton would create about 475 construction jobs and bring about 1,500 new full-time employees.

Upon build-out, the light industrial campus is anticipated to have a total 2 million square feet of available transportation, logistic or warehouse space.

Petrole referenced the Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research methodology, an economic impact calculator for counties in the country to determine how a new business will directly and indirectly impact the community.

He said the estimated annual production (direct output) is $358.5 million, and an annual production per worker of $106,000. The anticipated output or sales impact in Carbon County is estimated to be $426.2 million, while generating roughly $15.5 million in direct and indirect business taxes to federal, state and local government.

Petrole said the LERTA is needed to be competitive, and that all the entities must show that they are committed.

Petrole said Carbon County has one of the highest median property tax rates in the United States ranked at 372 out of 3,142 counties. The effective average property tax rate in Carbon County is 1.87%.

Petrole said that under LERTA, the borough, along with the district and Carbon County, would excuse a percentage of the additional tax revenue the buildings would bring in for the first 10 years.

In the first year of each building being constructed and occupied, he said 100 percent of the additional tax revenue would be excused, followed by 90 percent in the second year in and so on until after 10 years.

Using an estimated assessed valuation of $8,217,500 for each building at full taxation and based on current millages, the tax for each building would be: Palmerton Borough ($104,927), Palmerton Area School District ($466,583) and Carbon County ($100,664).

Every major project of this type avails themselves of these programs, added Petrole. He said not having the programs would be detrimental to any redevelopment of the West Plant Site.

Petrole said Northface previously had a point of access approval along 248.

They have made a request to PennDOT to move the originally-approved point of access 600 feet to the east. PennDOT must also approve the proposed lane constructions that would take traffic on and off 248.

The proposed access point is to the western end of the property, closer to Bowmanstown.

Northface would like to see that point, yet to be permitted, moved closer to Palmerton.

Council would like to see that point of access with a traffic signal, so that if and when the property is developed, all traffic into and out of the development could come in and out of that access along 248.