A day after learning definitively that the US government had purchased the former Big Lots Distribution Center property, Tremont Township supervisors lamented about the likely loss in property tax revenue at their regular monthly meeting.
On Tuesday, the supervisors noted that Big Lots had contributed a significant portion of the township’s budget. Since the federal government is exempt from paying property taxes on parcels it owns, Tremont Township is looking at an approximate $195,000 loss annually.
“There’s a lot of money we lose,” supervisor Larry Bender said. “It’s a significant portion of the Township budget. That’s the only thing we had in our township is Big Lots. We’ll have to watch whatever we do, whatever we spend.”
According to Coal Region Canary research and information from the Schuylkill County Tax Assessment office, Tremont Township would have gotten approximately $195,000 in property taxes. The entire expected revenue from property taxes in 2026 there was going to be $330,840.
That means Big Lots would have contributed just shy of 59% of Tremont Township’s property tax revenue in 2026.
When asked if the supervisors wanted some form of compensation to make up the lost revenue caused by the sale of the property, Bender, along with fellow supervisors Scott Bender and Wayne Dinger did not want to answer.
Solicitor: Sale Complete but ICE’s Future Plans Still Unknown
Tremont Township Solicitor Chris Riedlinger attempted to clear the air about the sale of the property and the future intentions of the US government.
Riedlinger said the purchase of the property is completed but stressed that the township still doesn’t know what ICE plans to do with the former Big Lots property. He warned against too much speculation at this point.
“There has been no communications with us from the government in any way of what their definitive plans for this facility are or anything else,” he said.
He added, “The reality is, other than that the government bought the property and you hear rumors, of course, as everyone else does, but haven’t received any official communication from anybody as to what the plans for that facility are, so anything else, we would really just be guessing. And it’s probably not a good idea to do that because we really don’t know what’s going to happen.”
In the meantime, Riedlinger said he’s reached out to Schuylkill County Municipal Authority and says they haven’t been contacted by anybody with the federal government.
Supervisors Questioned Why They Didn’t “Sound the Alarm” Sooner
Outside of lamenting the lost tax revenue to the taxing bodies with interest in the former Big Lots property, there has been and will continue to be, at least for a while, a lot of finger pointing as to why this development happened.
Who knew what and when did they know it?
So far, all local officials – from the township supervisors to the County Commissioners, even up to Rep. Dan Meuser – have said they weren’t in on the planning of the purchase of the property and still aren’t clear on what ICE’s intentions are for the building.
Jennifer Devine, of Frailey Township, wondered why Tremont Township didn’t speak up sooner before the sale was announced. She attended Tuesday’s supervisors meeting to question why the township, if it was as opposed to the potential for an ICE detention center as they’re saying, didn’t speak up sooner.
“You say you don’t want this here. Why didn’t you sound the alarm,” she asked. “It seems to me, this is all about the money. Money, money, money, not about humans, not about human rights. It’s all about the money. Sorry we’re losing the money but this is what people around here voted for.”
“If you lived in this township, you’d know where we’re coming from, but you don’t. We suffered a lot with no money. No we’re back to zero,” Larry Bender said.
Devine questioned why no one attended a town hall hosted by Democrat candidate for Congress Rachel Wallace last week in Reilly Township.
“My frustration is that the alarm bells should have went out a lot sooner because I feel people knew things a lot sooner and I feel people kept things secret,” she said.
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