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Central York district will not advance request for tax abatement on WellSpan Sports Center

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Central York district will not advance request for tax abatement on WellSpan Sports Center

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Inch & Co. is seeking a tax exemption from the Central York School District for its planned $38.5 million sports complex, but the board has turned down the company’s request.

School board member Amelia McMillan gave a brief summary Monday night about the tax abatement request for the WellSpan Sports Center. She said Inch & Co. was expected to submit a formal Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance request at the finance committee meeting.

Matt Marshall, general manager of the sports complex, and Joe Eisenhauer, vice president of development and construction, attended the finance committee meeting earlier this month. They gave a slideshow presentation but did not submit a formal proposal as previously agreed. The company indicated that the project would proceed whether or not the district granted the LERTA, McMillan said.

“Prioritizing the best interest of the district residents, a decision was made not to approve or advanced the LERTA request,” she said. “This decision was communicated to Inch & Co. via email on Thursday, Nov. 14, with appreciation expressed for their engagement in the process.”

Inch & Co. held a groundbreaking in September for the 250,000-square-foot sports and training center at the former Central York School District property in North York. It is being billed as “one of the region’s largest indoor recreational facilities.”

The company has said that construction is expected to begin this month.

During the slideshow presentation earlier this month, Marshall highlighted that the LERTA would provide the school district with a net benefit of nearly $3.3 million while allowing the sports complex to save nearly $2.6 million, which would make the project more viable.

“That’s critical for these sports complexes. If you’re familiar with the business and how that industry typically works, it takes time to stabilize these and have these be successful,” he said.

It takes work, effort and partner commitments to get the projects off the ground, Marshall said. After it launches, the effort becomes making it sustainable.

The LERTA approval would go a long way in helping with it, he said.

The project recently received a $1.5 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funding through the state and a $150,000 grant through York County Economic Alliance, Marshall said.

John Inch Jr. could not be reached for comment.

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