Photo courtesy of the Warren County Commissioners Several county municipalities - 12 in total - are participating in the county’s Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) program formally approved on Wednesday. The program offers tax abatement at varying levels for new construction and property redevelopment.

The future of redevelopment in Warren County will require a full tool box.

And one of those tools – years in the making – was finalized Wednesday by the Warren County Commissioners.

The board approved an amendment to an ordinance creating a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act (LERTA) program.

The program allows municipalities to keep taxes the same on “property improvements and new construction on both residential and commercial properties with a maximum benefit of 5 years of 100% tax abatement,” according to a statement from the commissioner’s office.

“In participating municipalities,” they added, “a person building a new home or redeveloping a property would not have their taxes increased beyond their current amount for up to five years.”

Twelve of the county’s 27 municipalities have signed on to participate in the program.

Ten of the municipalities – the city of Warren, Youngsville, Clarendon and Tidoute boroughs as well as Glade, Pleasant, Limestone, Watson, Cherry Grove and Sheffield townships – are offering up to 100 percent residential and commercial for five years.

Conewango, according to information from the county, is offering 100 percent for two years on new construction, 100 percent for five years for improvements to a residential property and 100 percent for two years for improvements to commercial properties.

Pine Grove is only offering the 5 year, 100 percent on the commercial side and is only available in certain zones of the county.

The commissioners’ approval of the ordinance on Wednesday resulted in the program formally opening up to participating municipalities, Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said.

“We did a lot of work to get a lot of municipalities on board,” he said, “a lot more than I would have thought when we first started.”

The school district also “had their own questions.”

Those looking to take advantage are asked to contact their municipal offices for an application. Additional information is available by contacting the county assessment office or visiting warrencountypa.gov.

Eggleston said this program “will be the most extensive and aggressive tax abatement of any rural county in the state of Pennsylvania.

“No other place that I’m aware of is going to be aggressive on this as we are.”