May 7, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The tiff about the Northampton County TIF may be resolved tonight.
That’s the fight over a 20-year tax break for Skyline Investment Group, which says it will build 405 apartments at the old Dixie Cup plant in Wilson Borough, just off Route 22 and 25th Street.
Skyline already has the approval of Wilson Borough and the Wilson Area School District for Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) that would redirect tax on property improvements at Dixie back to the developer for 20 years.
Northampton County rejected the TIF last year but has a public hearing scheduled on it again tonight . The council lineup has changed since the last vote.
Opponents say tax breaks are a handout to developers, while supporters say some projects need government help to get going. This TIF will be worth more than $20 million to Skyline.
At Council’s last meeting, Skyline Managing Partner Brian Bartee offered the county $2 million to use toward low-income housing. He said that amount would cover taxes lost on building improvements over the life of the TIF.
If that is the case, it would appear that the county would be, in economic terms, “indifferent” to getting $2 million now or collecting taxes on improvements at the site over 20 years.
Here’s a link to tonight’s County Council agenda. The TIF is the first item under Old Business.
https://www.norcopa.gov/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_pdfs/corecode/ag050726_2689.pdf
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 