Whitehall Township Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said he may start advancing plans providing significant tax breaks that can spur economic revitalization to the Lehigh Valley Dairy site.

Hozza plans on personally contacting members of the Whitehall-Coplay School Board to approve a proposed Local Economic Revitalization Tax Act.

LERTA is a tax abatement incentive that allows developers of underutilized properties to improve a project's cash flow by reducing the increased real estate taxes on a property over a 10-year-period.

Hozza expressed optimism the school board will partner with the township by approving a LERTA designation to gain state approval.

Whitehall Township Industrial and Commercial Development Authority Executive Director Howard Leiberman continues to lead the force regarding the project.

Leiberman, Hozza said, will go before the school board, or its committee, to lay out the benefits of the project.

Whitehall Board of Commissioners would also have to give its approval. The commissioners thus far appeared solid behind such a designation to spur economic revitalization, notably for the diary property and the former Dent property and others in the south sector of the township.

Several years back, the school board did not support the Keystone Opportunity Zone, not the LERTA designation as published. Lehigh County joined with the township to approve the KOZ, but all three taxing entities were needed for state approval.

Hozza said he will discuss the project with school board members and is viewing it as a lobbying effort, bringing a different perspective in relations with the board and at the same time having Leiberman and the authority continue with its expertise on such matters.