Lehigh County Commissioner Ron Beitler (I) issued the following statement after County Controller Mark Pinsley presented at tonight’s Board of Commissioners meeting and requested that the County explore a new tax on certain intangible personal property.

“First off, this is not a wealth tax on billionaires. That is political branding,” Beitler said. “It is an Intangible Personal Property Tax on common savings vehicles like stocks and bonds, things working families and seniors use to build financial security, along with small business ownership interests.”

Pinsley claims owner operated small businesses would be excluded from the proposed tax. At the same time, his presentation states that 75% of projected revenue would come from partnership interests, including partnerships and S corporations.

“Many truly small businesses are organized as partnerships, LLCs or S corporations,” Beitler said. “These are not rare structures. SBA data shows more than half of small employer firms are S corporations. It is simply not accurate to tell the public small businesses are excluded.”

Beitler also pushed back on the idea that impacted households, small business owners and seniors are exclusively wealthy.

“These are working families, small business owners and seniors. Not billionaires,” Beitler said. “Bonds, for example, are not exotic wealth assets. They’re standard retirement tools for seniors who worked their entire lives to have a comfortable retirement. Calling this a tax on billionaires falls apart when it hits such common investments used for basic financial security.”

Beitler said the public deserves transparency, starting with an honest description of what the tax is and an honest public airing of who would pay it.

Ron Beitler