Jun 3 2013

More Efficient Parking Still A Wilkes-Barre Priority

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE — A more than year-old study done by a potential vendor showed the “hidden value” in the city’s parking meters. But the city is no longer interested and won’t see the increased revenue from using the company’s automated technology.

The pilot program conducted in late 2011 by StreetSmart Technology LLC put more parkers at the 45 meters involved in the program and boosted the daily revenue at the downtown spots.

“It proved that there is hidden value in the system,” Drew McLaughlin, city municipal affairs manager, said Friday.

However, the city held off on committing to use the company’s automated technology while it pursued a long-term lease of the parking assets in conjunction with the Wilkes-Barre Parking Authority for a minimum of $20 million to pay down debt and for infrastructure improvements and public safety.

May 7 2013

Pennsylvania Casinos Rank High In Tax Revenue

English: Pennsylvania county map (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it comes to gambling meccas, you might want to start counting Pennsylvania among them.

Pennsylvania casinos generated more tax revenue last year than those in any other state and more gross revenue than any state but Nevada, according to a national American Gaming Association report released Monday.

The “State of the States: The AGA Survey of Casino Entertainment” found that the commonwealth’s 11 casinos produced nearly $1.5 billion in tax revenue in 2012, up 2.1 percent from the previous year. Nevada placed second at $868.6 million and New York third at $822.7 million.

Pennsylvania also was first in 2011.

Apr 26 2013

Spencer Unveils Bold Plan For Reading

English: Downtown Reading, Pennsylvania; with Berks County courthouse on left; July 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer on Thursday outlined an ambitious agenda of more than a dozen initiatives, some already begun, to improve the finances and conditions of the city and its neighborhoods.

Speaking to several dozen people attending the Pennsylvania Economy League’s Issues Forum at the Berkshire Country Club in Bern Township, Spencer recounted his campaign themes and said: “Those are the promises; what people expect is performance.”

He then led the audience through a rapid-fire explanation of where the city is and where it’s planning to go in several key areas.

He said the city has set goals for each area and is requiring any department initiatives to match those goals, with their results to be measured.

Apr 20 2013

Montgomery County Quarterly Report Indicates Generally Favorable Outlook

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORRISTOWN — Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Uri Monson’s quarterly report highlighted a couple key points — the first time the county’s fund balance grew at all since 2007 and the first Annual Required Contribution (ARC) to the pension fund since the same year.

Details were laid out during Thursday morning’s bi-monthly meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.

“Based on the Q1 revenue results, the county now projects to have an annual operating surplus for the year of over $2.6 million, on top of the nearly $2.6 million in reserves set aside to grow the fund balance,” said Monson.

“This would mark the first year-over-year increase in the fund balance since 2007.”

Mar 2 2013

Corbett Stops In Erie To Pitch Liquor Privatization Plan

Pennsylvania‘s system of selling liquor began at the end of Prohibition.

Gov. Tom Corbett said the idea then was to make the sale and purchase of alcohol as difficult as possible.

But the governor said Friday in Erie that it’s time for the state to move away from that old system and give “Pennsylvanians what they want — choice and convenience.”

Continuing a state tour, Corbett pitched his proposal to pull the state out of the wholesale and retail liquor business, while infusing $1 billion of the proceeds into public education.

Mar 2 2013

Federal Budget Cuts Will Affect More Than Federal Programs, Officials In Scranton Say

English: Official photo of Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration will hurt everything from the local barbershop to the largest manufacturers in Northeast Pennsylvania, said members of a panel at Sen. Bob Casey’s office Friday in downtown Scranton.

With no deal between Congress and the White House in sight and just hours before sequestration kicked in at midnight, the Democratic senator and a cross-section of local civic leaders struck a dire tone.

“We don’t have a full sense of what will happen,” Mr. Casey said. ”If this goes a day or week, it will have an impact. If it goes six months, the effect will be devastating.”

As the furloughs and cuts begin, sequestration will have an immediate impact not just on the government employees, but on contractors, and the communities where they live and spend.

Mar 1 2013

Michigan To Appoint Emergency Fiscal Manager For Detroit

English: City seal of Detroit, Michigan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DETROIT — Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan announced on Friday that the city of Detroit is so snarled in financial woes that the state must appoint an emergency manager to lead it out of disaster.

“There is probably no city that is more financially challenged in the entire United States. If you look at the quality of services for citizens it’s ranked among the worst. So we went from the top to the bottom over the last 50 or 60 years,” Mr. Snyder told Detroiters in a town-hall-style meeting that was broadcast live on local television stations across the city.

“It’s time to say we should stop going downhill,” he said. “There have been many good people that have had many plans, many attempts to turn this around, they haven’t worked. The way I view it, today is a day to call all hands on deck.”

The state-appointed manager, who could be selected later this month, would ultimately wield powers aimed at swiftly turning around the municipal government’s dire circumstances — powers to cut city spending, change contracts with labor unions, merge or eliminate city departments, urge the sale of city assets and even, if all else failed, to recommend bankruptcy proceedings.

Feb 25 2013

Berks School Boards Face More Tough Choices In 2013-14 Budget Process

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s looking like another tough budget season for school districts across Berks County.

Of the 13 local districts that have prepared preliminary budgets, all but one spending plan included significant shortfalls, ranging from about $400,000 to $2.2 million.

Muhlenberg’s budget doesn’t have a gap, but it currently includes a property tax increase larger than the state permits.

Budget gaps among districts can be somewhat hard to compare, because some include tax increases or major cuts in their preliminary budgets while others don’t.

Feb 17 2013

Amtrak’s Regulars Treasure The Pennsylvanian

English: An locomotive arriving at the Johnstown train station in Johnstown, . The train is Amtrak’s #42 Pennsylvanian. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ABOARD THE AMTRAK PENNSYLVANIAN — The steady rumble of steel wheels on tracks is punctuated by the wail of a locomotive horn and then, oddly, by the pop of a champagne cork.

It’s 8:30 a.m., and Amanda McCoy and Kim Christen are living it up in the cafe car. On the table are boxes of a Polish pastry called paczki, orange juice and a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly.

It’s mimosa time.

Ms. McCoy, of Indiana Township, and Ms. Christen, of West View, also have bread, garlic bologna, lettuce, tomato and a travel Scrabble set for the long ride. “We’re veterans,” Ms. McCoy says. “We know how to do it.”

Like many others aboard the train, they swear by it, and recoil at the possibility that the one daily Amtrak train serving Pittsburgh and Harrisburg will be eliminated in October.

Feb 12 2013

Daniel Boone School Board Tentatively OKs Drastic Cuts

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Daniel Boone School Board is moving forward with a preliminary 2013-14 budget that includes drastic cuts.

The board voted 6-2 Monday to pass a preliminary $54.9 million budget that closes a nearly $5 million gap by raising taxes the maximum amount, furloughing nearly 40 employees and eliminating kindergarten and all extracurricular activities, including sports.

Board members Connor J. Kurtz and Kevin F. McCullough voted no and Robert D. McLaughlin was absent.

More than 100 residents attended the meeting, with many speaking out against the cuts outlined in the preliminary budget.

Feb 10 2013

Lancaster County Convention Center Gets Deadline Extension On Debt

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Lancaster County Convention Center is living on borrowed time.

With less than three weeks to go before the center’s $64 million in construction debt was due to be restructured — pushing interest rates higher — officials on Friday extended the financing for three more months.

The move buys time for negotiation with lender Wells Fargo to come to terms the center can live with.

A consultant sounded the alarm a year ago that the nearly 4-year-old center could be forced to close if revenues were not significantly increased or financing fees cut.

Feb 4 2013

Fee For Pennsylvania State Troopers On The Radar

English: Pennsylvania county map (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A crash occurs on Route 183 in Penn Township. State troopers who usually respond in that area are tied up elsewhere.

What’s a police chief in the small neighboring borough of Bernville going to do?

“As soon as I hear about an incident I’m going to respond,” Chief Brian Thumm said.

He won’t ignore a call nearby just because it’s outside his borough in state police territory.

While that’s the right thing to do, Thumm said, Bernville taxpayers are picking up the cost.

He’d like to see neighboring municipalities join with Bernville in providing local police coverage. If that’s not an option, he’d at least like to see municipalities that rely only on state police pay for the service.

Jan 28 2013

Governor Christie Quietly Takes On New Jersey Lottery

English: , U.S. Attorney, Governor-elect of New Jersey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

TRENTON – Gov. Christie hasn’t held a news conference about it, and his treasurer has refused to testify on it. But the Republican governor is close to privatizing the bulk of a $2.8 billion New Jersey institution.

Following a national trend already under way in Pennsylvania, Christie is negotiating a 15-year contract with a company to operate the state lottery in an effort to increase sales, thereby building more revenue for schools and state institutions.

Like Pennsylvania’s Republican Gov. Corbett, Christie bypassed the Legislature, much to its chagrin, in bidding out the system. And like Pennsylvania, New Jersey got just one bid in response to its request for proposals.

Unlike in Pennsylvania, where the pending contract was ultimately posted online and must be submitted for approval to the Democratic attorney general, New Jersey’s lottery bid is not public. Christie could just sign a contract in the next two months.

Jan 27 2013

Pennsylvania Third-Class Cities’ Problems, Solutions May Be Addressed

Map of Pennsylvania, showing major cities and roads (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All 53 of Pennsylvania’s third-class cities share common bonds, and one state senator believes legislators who represent those cities should band together to help address their common challenges.

“Sprawl, changing demographics, public safety concerns and archaic tax structure have drained the vitality of our once-vibrant downtowns,” state Sen. John N. Wozniak, D-Johnstown, wrote in a letter to his colleagues. “Since the causes are not unique, we can’t stand by and ask local government officials to stem a tide that is overwhelming their capacity and authority to innovate.”

Wozniak noted in the letter to colleagues from both parties in the Senate and House that while the state’s historic downtowns are unique, the fiscal problems they face are not. With that in mind, Wozniak is proposing the creation of a bipartisan “Third-Class City Caucus.”

“We can no longer afford to consider the plight of our cities as a concern that is separate from the overall welfare of our Commonwealth,” he said.

Jan 18 2013

Pennsylvania No. 2 In Casino Revenue, Behind Only Las Vegas

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA — Gross revenue from Pennsylvania’s 11 casinos rose 4.4 percent last year to more than $3.1 billion, further cementing the state’s status as the second-largest U.S. gambling market as the Atlantic City market saw another decline.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported the state’s 11 casinos brought in nearly $3.16 billion in gross revenue from slot machines and table games last year, up from just over $3 billion in 2011. The figures were boosted by growth in table games, which generated $687.4 million in gross revenue last year, up about 11 percent from the year before. Earlier this month, the state reported revenues from slot machines in 2012 were $2.47 billion, up about 2.7 percent from 2011.

Jan 17 2013

Sands Casino In Bethlehem Is For Sale

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Northampton County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is on the selling block, a source familiar with company thinking told The Morning Call.

Las Vegas Sands, the world’s largest casino company, is asking as much as $1 billion for the Bethlehem casino. But the source cautioned it’s part of company policy to gauge outside interest on every company property in the United States.

In other words, while Las Vegas Sands’ highly lucrative Macau properties are off-limits, every Sands casino in the U.S.— even the Venetian — theoretically could be had, for the right price.

Some analysts theorize that with Sands Bethlehem revenues riding high, and potential gambling competition brewing in New York state, the time is right for Las Vegas Sands to sell Bethlehem — its only U.S. casino outside Las Vegas.

Jan 5 2013

Reading School District Short Millions; Lawmakers Want Audit

Officials in the Reading School District announced the discovery of an accounting error that has left the district short more than $15 million.

Board President Robert F. Heebner Jr. said revenues for the 2010-11 school year were overstated by about $15.6 million. Heebner said it is still unclear which revenues were misstated.

That number could change, he said, as the district is still working on digging up all the facts about the incident.

The mistake was missed in audits of the district last year but popped onto the radar during an audit of the 2011-12 school year, which is taking place now.

Dec 27 2012

No Boyertown Tax Hike, But Water Rates Rise

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After approving a $1.5 million budget without a tax increase, Boyertown Borough Council endorsed a 9.35 percent water rate hike Wednesday in hopes that it will offset a $100,000 decline in commercial and industrial water revenues.

The 6-0 budget vote maintains the current property tax rate of 5.14 mills, leaving the annual tax bill for a property assessed at $100,000 at $514.

By raising water rates, the borough council hopes to generate an additional $150,000 in revenue, with the extra $50,000 acting as a cushion against rising expenses and preventing more rate hikes in the near future.

Council hopes to have the new rates take effect in the first quarter of 2013 and will vote in February to authorize them if the water authority approves them next month.

Dec 22 2012

Bethlehem City Council Passes $71 Million Budget With 7 Percent Tax Hike

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Northampton County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a budget where rising pension costs framed the debate, Bethlehem City Council on Thursday adopted a $71 million budget that includes a 7 percent property tax hike and other revenue including a tax on certain concert tickets.

But what it doesn’t include is $500,000 from a citywide trash hauler, a proposal by Mayor John Callahan that drew public backlash.

Instead, council cut hundreds of thousands of dollars from the budget and accepted Callahan’s suggestions on refinancing the landfill debt. Council also accepted the administration’s updated revenue projections that show the earned income tax and casino fees as bringing in more money than when Callahan first released his budget proposal last month.

Councilman Robert Donchez acknowledged the budget isn’t perfect but a lot of work was put into it.

Dec 17 2012

Cumru Township Won’t Fill Vacant Police Positions