The Lehigh County Commissioners voted against a tax increment financing plan for the proposed Hamilton Crossings shopping center at its June 26 meeting.

In a 6-3 vote, Commissioners Michael Schware, Scott Ott, Vic Mazziotti, Brad Osborne, Lisa Scheller and Daniel McCarthy voted against the TIF. Commissioners Percy Dougherty, David Jones and Thomas Creighton voted in favor of the TIF.

Developers for the project along Krocks Road in between Route 222 and Hamilton Boulevard in Lower Macungie wanted the TIF to help pay for infrastructure upgrades such as road improvements, stormwater improvements and utility upgrades.

Creighton said he was afraid the county government was overextending its authority by voting on this issue.

"It concerns me that the state government and federal government try to mandate things on the county, so why should we feel any different when the county tries to mandate things on Lower Macungie Township?"

McCarthy, one of the board's two Democrats, said he voted against the TIF because he believes a project can be developed on the site without a TIF.

Jones, the other Democrat, said he made his decision only 10 minutes before the vote.

"I've got to take what I got now," Jones said. "I don't know what the future holds. I don't know what could potentially happen with another developer. I have no idea. All I know is that I have a project in front of me that the industrial authority said meets all the criteria of a legal program called the tax incremental finance."

Jones added he believes in private-public partnerships.

Dougherty said he supported the project because it would create jobs for the county and add infrastructure improvements to the area.

"We're talking about highway improvements and drainage improvements that will not be done otherwise," Dougherty said.

Schware said the county commissioners should not be involved in the decision.

"We've being thrust into the situation because county taxpayers are being asked to pay for what is a township problem," Schware said. "There's no county asset that's getting improved."

Mazziotti said the key question for him was "is the developer responsible for mitigating any cost that he creates?"

"The answer for me is yes they are responsible," Mazziotti said. "They should mitigate any problem they create."

Once again the public hearing room was near-capacity as residents came out on both sides of the issues, though a majority of the public comments were in favor of the TIF.

Kevin Lott, a business agent for the Lehigh Valley Carpenter's Union, supported the approval of the TIF project because it would help create jobs for the workers he represents.

"Construction has been brutal the past five years," Lott said. "It's been a recession for most people out there, but if you work construction, it's been a depression. I keep hearing that this might happen on down the road. Our families need jobs now."

Before the vote, Scheller thanked the audience for coming out to the meeting.

"It's nice to see so many people charged up for local government," Scheller said. "I hope it continues beyond this vote."