March 18, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Northampton County Council will hold a public hearing tomorrow on creating a Human Relations Commission, and ponder a big tax break for development at the old Dixie Cup plant in Wilson Borough.
The Human Relations Commission looks like a nice idea, designed to protect people against discrimination of all kinds, but are there not other avenues to do this already? If created, the commission would have seven appointed members to look into complaints.
Government should be careful about expanding, especially when finances are tight and the county may be opening the door to a lot of problems. Guaranteeing fair treatment sounds good but the county has gotten by without an “HRC” and nobody has demonstrated a compelling need for one.
Nor is a commission going to correct all the wrongs of the world. Lehigh County has such a commission, and yet still has problems.
The ordinance is so broad that it probably includes just about everybody in the county in one class or other. I’m pretty sure I’m covered somewhere, though I didn’t read the whole thing. It even delves into genetic information.
Of course, while I don’t see a need, there are always people eager to expand government.
Also up tomorrow night is the first reading, not a final vote, on a Tax Increment Finance district for the Dixie Cup plant in Wilson Borough. Skyline Development has proposed turning the old factory into about 400 apartments. The tax break, known as a TIF, would allow the developer to use money that would go to taxing bodies — the borough, the Wilson Area School District and the county — instead to be used for the project.
That could add up to more than $20 million. Taxes would be paid on the property as it is now, just not on improvements for as long as 20 years.
The county will hold a public hearing on the TIF on April 16, with a vote possible as early as May 7. Last year, County Council shot down the TIF but elections have changed the roster.
TIFs and other tax breaks are designed to spur investment in blighted properties but they also put taxpayers’ money into developers’ pockets.
The Borough of Wilson and the Wilson Area School District support the tax break.
If it’s approved in May, I hope the developer’s plan to save the weathered cup on top of the building is dropped. It’s a waste of money on a big ugly decaying piece of junk.
Northampton County Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 18, in council chambers on the third floor of the government center in Easton. The meeting is open to the public and will be broadcast on the Internet.
Here is a link to meeting agendas, and here is a page with links to agenda items.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 
Hi Jeff!
I wanted to respond to a couple of your points.
“The Human Relations Commission looks like a nice idea, designed to protect people against discrimination of all kinds, but are there not other avenues to do this already?”
Not really, no. The Commonwealth has its own Human Relations Commission, but the law creating that hasn’t been updated since the 1960s, so it’s pretty out of date, and excludes a lot of people, including veterans, those with disabilities, and victims of domestic violence. And even for those who are protected under the state Commission, it has a massive backlog and if you file a case there, it’s not likely to be heard for years. But the state law specifically authorizes municipalities to create their own commissions, and I think it makes more sense to have complaints addressed on the local level, by your own neighbors and community members, than out in Harrisburg.
“Government should be careful about expanding, especially when finances are tight and the county may be opening the door to a lot of problems.”
I agree that we always need to be careful about spending money when finances are tight. Fortunately, the costs for this ordinance are minimal. The main cost will be to create a website to submit complaints. Beyond that, the commission has cost Lehigh County under $200 in the two years it’s been operational. I just don’t see cost as a compelling reason not to proceed here. And in the version of the ordinance I wrote for Northampton County, I included additional cost controls to make sure that this is not costing the taxpayer. For example, in Lehigh County, if the county itself (as an employer) is the subject of a discrimination complaint, the county needs to hire an outside solicitor. In my ordinance, if the county is the subject of a complaint, the case is sent to the state commission, eliminating the county expense.
“Nor is a commission going to correct all the wrongs of the world. Lehigh County has such a commission, and yet still has problems.”
You’re right. This is not a panacea. This will not correct all the wrongs of the world. But it will help correct some.
Thanks for taking the time to write about this.
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