U.D. school board weighs tax break for Drexelbrook Hotel
UPPER DARBY» During a special voting session on Nov. 28 the Upper Darby School Board will vote on a temporary tax exemption to a hotel construction project slated for the township.
The board is expected to adopt a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance resolution that will hold off on collecting all property taxes for five years of the yet-to-be-built Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites at the Drexelbrook Catering & Special Event Center in Drexel Hill. The six-floor, 100-room structure is expected to be completed in June 2018. Starting with full exemption in 2019, the exemption will decrease by 20 percent each year until the total property assessment of $2.24 million is taxed starting in 2024.
The LERTA is a state act that allows local taxing authorities to exempt new construction in deteriorated areas of economically depressed communities and improvements to certain deteriorated industrial, commercial and other business property. The act was created to build up tax bases and improve community economies.
The school board, after the township and the council, needed to OK the resolution for the project or it would “not be feasible for the developer to proceed.”
The board will be presented with information on the LERTA resolution and Drexelbrook hotel project at their finance and operations committee meeting starting at 6 p.m., with a vote to come after another committee meeting that night.