Lancaster Newspapers Charting New Direction

Lancaster Newspapers announced a series of changes Monday to strengthen its focus on delivering local news and information to Lancaster County residents.

In the first step of this effort, the company named Ernest Schreiber as executive editor, overseeing its news-gathering operation seven days a week.

Schreiber, who came out of retirement to take the newly created position, will lead a combination of the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era and Sunday News staffs.

Effective immediately, the 75 reporters, editors and photographers will operate as a single newsroom, not two.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/737838_Lancaster-Newspapers-charting-new-direction.html#ixzz26r7qhNpj

$2 Million Drop In Reading Revenue Predicted

Reading’s outside consultants told City Council on Monday that total city revenues likely would drop by $2 million from 2013 to 2017, largely because of shrinking property tax money and a recovery plan calling for cuts in the earned-income tax rate.

The property tax, at $18 million, and the earned-income tax, at $13 million, are the two largest city income sources, said Gordon Mann, senior consultant with Public Financial Management Inc., Philadelphia, which is leading the state-hired Act 47 financial recovery team.

He said the problem with the property tax is that assessments essentially are flat, but about a half-percent of city properties go tax exempt each year.

More than 30 percent of city properties now are tax exempt.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=415184