A Berks County district temporarily froze a major renovation amid loss of $600K to ICE warehouse sale
A Berks County school district temporarily paused planning for a high school renovation due to a loss of property tax revenue after ICE purchased a local warehouse. Now, with ICE potentially selling the warehouse, local residents are concerned it could become a data center, prompting Upper Bern Township to propose a new ordinance to regulate the industry.
The Hamburg Area School District in Berks County, Pennsylvania, temporarily halted planning for a multi-million-dollar high school renovation project after losing nearly $600,000 in annual property tax revenue. This loss stemmed from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) purchasing a local warehouse in Upper Bern Township in January, removing it from the tax rolls. Although district officials, including Superintendent Christopher Beissel, stated the financial impact was limited, the pause reflected uncertainty regarding the warehouse's future.
Initially, ICE intended to convert the warehouse into a detention center as part of a $38.3 billion plan to expand immigrant detention capacity. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later informed the Shapiro administration in July that it no longer plans to use the Berks and Schuylkill County warehouses for this purpose. The agency has not clarified whether it will sell the Pennsylvania properties, which would return them to the tax rolls, or use them for other governmental functions. Berks County Chief Operations Officer Kevin Barnhardt noted that U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser indicated DHS might sell the warehouses, but no written confirmation exists.
The uncertainty surrounding the warehouse has now shifted focus to a new community concern: the potential for the site to be redeveloped as a data center. Residents and local officials, including Berks County Commissioner Dante Santoni Jr., expressed a desire for the properties to return to the tax rolls. In response to these concerns and broader trends across Pennsylvania municipalities, Upper Bern Township's board supervisors proposed a data center ordinance during their July 9 meeting. The Planning Commission is scheduled to review the proposal on July 28, with the next Board of Supervisors meeting on August 13, inviting public comments and suggestions.