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​​City Revitalization and Improvement Zone

The City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ) program was established by Act 52 of 2013 and amended under Act 84 of 2016 to spur new growth in cities that have struggled to attract development, helping to revive downtowns and create jobs for the residents in the regions. A CRIZ is an area of up to 130 acres, comprised of parcels designated by an authority to capture state and local taxes for the purpose of improvement and development in the designated CRIZ zone.

The program is similar to a tax incremental financing program. It is structured to protect the existing state and local tax base, while providing incremental funding for tax revenues based on new growth generated over and above an established baseline per business and new tax revenue generated in the zone by new businesses.

All qualified businesses, including construction contractors, within a CRIZ must complete annual state and local tax reports by June 15 each year so the Department of Revenue and local tax authority may certify the amount of taxes to be transferred to the CRIZ Fund. The state tax report is available through the June 15 filing deadline by clicking here.

Qualified businesses that fail to timely submit complete CRIZ tax reports will be subject to a non-filing penalty of the lesser of 10 percent of taxes attributed to the CRIZ or $1,000 for each late or non-filed report during the previous calendar year. Taxes paid by a contractor or qualified business that failed to timely submit a complete CRIZ tax report will not be included in the amount transferred to the CRIZ Fund.

Questions regarding CRIZ state tax reports or state baseline establishment should be directed to 717-772-3896 or ra-rveconomic-dev@pa.gov.

Questions regarding Local CRIZ reporting requirements should be directed to the CRIZ contracting authority within each zone.

Bethlehem CRIZ Authority: Phone (610) 997-7628, web address: http://www.bethlehemcriz.com

Lancaster CRIZ Authority: Phone (717) 201-7498, web address: http://www.cityoflancasterpa.com/government/criz-authority

Tamaqua CRIZ Authority: Phone (570) 668-0300, web address: https://tamaquaborough.com/index.php?id=20