What To Do With KOZ?

The State of Pennsylvania is facing a 1 billion dollar budget shortfall this coming July. Our wonderful Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate wants to sue the federal government and get rid of the state fleet of yes, 17,000 vehicles.

A letter to the editor in Saturday's News-Item, raises big questions about the KOZ program or Keystone Opportunity Zones. John Faraguna, onetime president of the Brush Valley Preservation Association, questions the use of 2 million dollars to develop SEEDCO Industrial Park for Reinhart Food Service to move from Sunbury to Coal Township and employ 12 people less than when it was in Sunbury.

On the surface, KOZ's look like a very good idea to pump prime economic development into strapped areas. Usually a five year tax incentive up front is provided. The program has been around from 1999. You can look at the KOZ zones for lower Northumberland County and see the results.

With Faraguna requesting information under the new Right to Know laws, I wonder if information exist on KOZ job creation for Lower Northumberland County? For Pennsylvania?