Tag Archives: Macungie

Comparison of local tax rates

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What are municipal taxes like in Lower Mac compared to other areas?

With the recently enacted homestead reduction residential properties assessed under 150,000 in Lower Mac have the lowest municipal property tax bills out of all East Penn communities + Upper Mac. Residents with homes assessed at 111,300 or less are the only remaining homeowners in the entire county who have a local property tax bill of ZERO. (about 1000 households)

Across the board, Lower Mac is tied for the 5th lowest municipal millage rate in all of Lehigh County out of 25 municipalities. Lower Mac’s millage is 50% lower than average for all townships.  FYI neighboring Macungie Borough has the lowest municipal taxes out of not just the East Penn Boroughs but all 8 Lehigh County Boroughs.

The chart below shows municipal millage rates and the tax bills in dollars for various assessments in East Penn municipalities:

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To compare what you pay in municipal taxes vs. what you pay in school property taxes see chart below. 

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For a home appraised at around 220,000 your Lower Macungie bill represents about 1% of your total property taxes. (See what that looks like below) With the homestead reduction over the last two years 50% of homeowners got a tax break 2 years in a row. 90% got a tax break in at least 1 of the last 2 years.

In Lower Mac we are continuing to fulfill our goal of 1st class services, facilities, parks, amenities and a very aggressive farmland and open space preservation program while keeping municipal taxes very low. Our low millage rate is unparalleled for a township our size with the amount of services and facilities we provide and public works we maintain.

 

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Lower Mac taxes visually. The green slice (if you can find it) is your Lower Mac tax bill. Yellow is Lehigh County. Red is school district.

Macungie Borough Explores Historic Preservation Ordinance

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Singmaster Home, Macungie PA
Now the Liberty Savings Bank, excellent example of rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings

A zoning amendment limiting the demolition of historical buildings built prior to 1940 is being proposed in the borough.

This is policy I believe is necessary to foster a revitalized downtown area. Historical preservation is proven to make boroughs more attractive to local businesses. Preservation should be a focus to enable a community to remain attractive, compact and walkable.

By fostering these characteristics rather then mimicking suburbia, the town’s uniqueness and charm is preserved allowing it to compete with sprawling suburban retail/commercial.

Macungie’s density, character, walkability and charm are assets that differentiate it from the sprawling void of strip malls in the township.

I get nervous when elected officials cite landowner rights as a catch-all in opposition to useful progressive policies as I heard at the Feb. 6 council meeting.

I’m a fairly conservative guy politically, however, I think the benefits of encouraging a revitalized downtown by protecting historical assets is clear.

It’s common practice to use zoning ordinances to regulate development in the best interest of the community. This amendment does not put an uneccesary burden on property owners and does not limit necessary maintenance and repair. The amendment also accounts for the Zoning Hearing Board to grant special exceptions for extenuating circumstances.

This simply prohibits demolition. Furthermore, it’s meant to “encourage continued use, appropriate rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.”

A perfect example is the Singmaster home now occupied by Liberty Savings Bank. Certainly if someone were to come in and propose demolition of this building, it would be a tragic loss to the community. The plan is to preserve the home while expanding the back of the property to create a full service bank. This is excellent use of an existing property of historic value focusing on maintaining it’s character. It is my understanding that at one time a developer inquired about the land with the intent to demolish the building. This would have been a tragic loss of a valuable asset and landmark.

I am a resident of LMT. I am also a business owner on Main St. in the borough. I believe in regional planning and consider Macungie the Main Street of the broader community including the township. As a business owner looking to find a permanent home for our studio (we currently rent our space on Main) this is exactly the kind of policy I look for when considering locations, and communities to invest in.

If a borough isn’t interested in investing in itself, why would a business owner invest in it?