Erie City Council has voted to approve an expansion of its existing Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance, or LERTA program. The new plan would be city-wide, and withhold 100 percent of both city and county taxes for 10 years, for new residential and commercial construction. School district taxes would be held at 80 percent for commercial. The vote was five to two.
At his press conference, Mayor Joe Schember said that an aggressive LERTA was his number one legislative priority. “My team and I worked very hard to get LERTA approved last night, because we did not want to lose another construction season, and push Erie’s transformation back another year,” Schember said.
A community reinvestment fund to help low-income homeowners, has been established as part of the LERTA package.
