New Hawthorne resort project could generate over $3.2 million in annual tax payments

JAN 28 2023, 3:30pm

PARADISE —A new resort project proposed for the property previously the site of the Hawthorne Inn & Cottages is expected to generate $3,261,876 in state and local taxes annually when completed according to a tax analysis shared with us by the Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corporation.

The developer is currently planning a lodge and cabins, with a total of about 150 units. The amenities will include a spa, event spaces, a restaurant, and recreational facilities. According to the analysis, if built as currently imagined, the property would have a tax assessment of about $61 million.  The resort anticipates creating 100 new full-time equivalent employees, generating earned income taxes, local services taxes, and personal income taxes for the various taxing authorities.

Paradise Township, where the bulk of the resort property is located, could expect nearly $90,000 in annual tax receipts, including real estate, earned income, and local services taxes. The combined revenue for the Pocono Mountain School District is estimated at over $1.2 million a year, while the county could see about $730,000 in real estate and hotel taxes.

The developer expects to pay over a million dollars in hotel and sales taxes to the state each year, together with $150,000 in personal income taxes.

Contrary to unsubstantiated social-media rumors, the owner of the property is not a tax-exempt organization and has no plan to seek any tax exemption. It was on a list of properties requesting LERTA reductions. However, those requests were rejected last year, when the school district refused to consider the tax breaks.

Last year, in April, state representative Maureen Madden announced that she had secured a half-million dollar grant for the Hawthorne developer. That money was dedicated to help fund the early phases of site acquisition, design, and planning. In June Represented Madden took credit for helping get the developer an additional $200,000 for sanitary sewage disposal. None of those funds have been distributed yet.

JSPA Realty has a current application for $2,000,000 in assistance pending with the same program. It is seeking that money to fund part of the estimated $6,000,000 installation of key infrastructure on the site, including electrical, water, and sewer systems.

A hearing on the developer’s conditional use application is set for 6pm on January 30, at the Paradise Township Municipal Building, 5912 Paradise Valley Rd., Route 940, Cresco, PA 18326.  Any member of the public who wishes to participate virtually instead of attending in person may log in via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94054919169?pwd=TzNQMVI0SU1nZElOeGJyUG1UWlhWQT09 or go to the website Paradisetownship.com for more information.