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Schuylkill County officials and residents demand answers after recorded sale of Tremont Big Lots building for federal detention operations
Summary
Commissioners and residents raised questions after the deed for the former Big Lots distribution center in Tremont Township was recorded Feb. 2. County officials said they had received no prior notice and flagged tax, infrastructure and security concerns; Congressman Meuser’s office said the facility would hold 7,500 people and employ 2,500.
Commissioner Larry Padora told the Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners at its Feb. 4 work session that the county discovered a deed recorded Feb. 2 showing the former Big Lots distribution facility in Tremont Township had been sold to the federal government for use as a detention facility and that "there was no official notice of the sale." He said county staff had called the Big Lots company and state legislators but only learned of the recorded deed when county staff checked property records.
Padora listed immediate concerns for county officials, including projected local tax losses and the capacity of local infrastructure. He cited figures shared with the commissioners: an estimated annual loss of $222,574.32 in tax revenue to Schuylkill County, an estimated $555,630.01 loss to the Pine Grove School District (listed as an estimate in the record) and $195,953.73 to…
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