Lehighton Ford is asking three local governing bodies to approve a tax deferment program that would allow it to up upgrade its facility to accommodate a growing shift to electric vehicles.

Adam Brobst, Lehighton Ford general manager, said the upgrade will cost about $5 million and the dealership is asking Lehighton Area School District, Lehighton Borough and the Carbon County Commissioners to excuse a percentage of the additional tax revenue the new facility would bring in.

“Ford is requiring us to make these changes and the tax deferment would go a long way in helping us be sustainable and continue to operate within the town of Lehighton,” Brobst told school board directors during a workshop Monday night.

Should the request be approved by at least two of the three taxing bodies, it would render the improvements to the Lehighton Ford property 100% exempt from real property tax in the first year, 90% exempt in the second year, 80% exempt in the third year, and so on until the dealership is paying the full property tax on the improvements after year 10.

“Essentially, the dealership would pay the same property tax amount they are paying now and every year would increase 10% toward the new tax rate they are being levied,” LASD Board President Joy Beers said.

Brobst said Lehighton borough, which has to designate a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance zone, has been supportive of the request.

“Without this tax deferment, we will not make the investment,” Brobst said. “It would put us in a very uncomfortable zone from a financial perspective.”

Asked if the dealership would be willing to budge on how long it would take to reach the 100% payment point on the new property tax rate, Brobst said there is little wiggle room in terms of project specifications.

“Ford dictates pretty much everything from the tile we use to the windows and so forth,” he said. “We are working toward reducing the cost of the building through working with multiple vendors to see where we can save.”

Part of the improvements would include the installation of Level 3 public charging stations, which Brobst said can fully charge an electric vehicle in around 45 minutes.

LASD director Barb Bowes said Monday she supports the dealership’s request.

“Lehighton isn’t a metropolis and doesn’t have a lot of large business,” Bowes said. “I think an investment in the community through a LERTA is a good thing. It allows for smaller businesses to expand and provide more jobs.”

Lehighton Ford currently employs about 30 people and would add 8-10 more jobs should the new facility go through, Brobst estimated.

“If more things like this had been done 10 years ago, we might be having different conversations here tonight when we talk about our school district budget,” board member Nathan Foeller said.

Only board member Brian Shaner indicated he wasn’t fully on board with the idea as of Monday night.

“I’m not sold on it yet,” he said.