HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne has until Friday to come before the state Senate and explain why he hasn’t turned over records on Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone.
A resolution adopted Tuesday declares that if Browne continues to defy a subpoena for tax records about the Allentown NIZ, he may be jailed through the end of November for contempt of the Senate.
The Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee in July ordered Browne to turn over 20 categories of tax information about the tax NIZ dating over a 13-year period.
The NIZ, which allows developers in parts of Center City Allentown to use newly generated tax revenues to pay off redevelopment projects, is the only district of its kind in the state.
Browne, formerly a state senator representing Lehigh County, previously said that the requested records are so granular they share tax data for one or two identifiable entities. This would amount to releasing individual tax records, which are confidential, he argued.
State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh/Bucks, who introduced the resolution compelling Browne to appear before the Senate, said he was not requesting individual tax records.
Getting that information, he and other Senate Republicans who supported the resolution argued, is necessary for the General Assembly to exercise oversight of the state’s executive branch.
Browne filed a lawsuit late Tuesday asking the Commonwealth Court to rule he cannot disclose the subpoenaed records, block the Senate from forcing him to do so, and keep him out of prison.
