Gettysburg officials get creative to revitalize vacant properties

(Undated) — Downtown Gettysburg might be bustling with tourists and shoppers on any given day, but that economic prosperity has failed to spread to one quiet section of North Stratton Street. Gettysburg officials are making moves to change that.

Gettysburg Borough Council voted unanimously Monday to move forward with setting up a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program, also known as a LERTA, for several properties in town. Council designated a LERTA zone as six parcels located at 103 Carlisle St., 102 North Stratton St., 108 North Stratton St., 151 North Stratton St. and 153 North Stratton St. 

The properties in question have sat vacant for decades, borough manager Charles Gable said Wednesday. So officials are getting creative. 

A LERTA program allows taxing authorities to provide tax exemptions on the improved values of deteriorated or blighted properties. That means that property owners can make improvements on a parcel but continue to pay property taxes at a reduced rate for up to 10 years. Taxing authorities like the Gettysburg Borough often use LERTA programs to attract developers to purchase and build up undesirable properties.

The parcels in this LERTA zone are deteriorated, meaning they are not meeting their full economic potential, Gable said. 

“It’s necessary because there is a greater than 20-year history of these parcels languishing, meaning no development has occurred given the regulations currently on the books,” Gable said. “If development is going to occur, we need to incentivize.”

Adams County and Gettysburg Area School District, the two other local taxing authorities for the land, are considering passing LERTA programs as well. All three entities need to sign on to the same abatement schedules. Should one reject this, all others are null and void, Gable said.

Gettysburg used the LERTA once before in 1988 for properties that are now the Gettysburg Hotel and the Majestic Theater.

Still, details of a LERTA program can vary according to the taxing authority’s wishes. Once a developer comes forward with a proposal for the land, council can set a schedule for tax abatement.

Council has set two options for a tax abatement schedule. One option has a developer start with a 100 percent tax abatement that is then reduced by 10 percent each year for 10 years. The second option has a developer start with 100 percent abatement that is then reduced by every other year for 10 years, meaning the final year of the LERTA program will fall at 60 percent tax abatement. 

Adams County and Gettysburg Area School District are still considering whether to adopt the LERTA program.  

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Hanover Evening Sun.