Harrisburg Debt Announcement Leaves Public Wanting More

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

HARRISBURG – State officials generated a full house Wednesday morning with emails hinting at big news related to the city’s financial recovery.

And many the people boosting the typically sparse attendance – Harrisburg residents, reporters, elected and appointed officials – seemed underwhelmed by what they heard at the Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee’s meeting in City Hall in Harrisburg.

Few numbers, no documents, scant detail – all of that is to come, likely by mid-August when debt resolutions deals are filed in court.

Instead, the point was to broadcast an attitude adjustment among stakeholders involved in negotiations to resolve more than $600 million in debt, state-appointed receiver William Lynch said.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/07/harrisburg_debt_announcement_l.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Scranton Mayor Cuts City Workers’ Pay To Minimum Wage

A fiscal and political crisis in the nearly-broke northeastern Pennsylvania city of Scranton deepened Tuesday as public employee unions sought to have the mayor held in contempt of court after he defied a judge and slashed workers’ pay to minimum wage.

Unions representing firefighters, police and public-works employees also filed a pair of federal lawsuits against Mayor Chris Doherty and the city that alleged violations of labor law and due-process rights.

Doherty last week ignored a court order and cut the pay of about 400 city workers to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The Democratic mayor said it was all the cash-strapped city of more than 76,000 could afford, promising to restore full pay once finances are stabilized.

“It’s incredible,” the unions’ attorney, Thomas Jennings, said Tuesday. “I’ve never had a public official just say, `I’m not going to obey a court order. I’m not even going to try. He can’t tell me what to do.'”

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=398160

City Of Altoona Accepted Into Act 47 Distressed Municipalities Program

Undetailed map of Altoona, Pennsylvania and some surrounding areas From my talk page: :I drew the map of Altoona in xpaint from a map on the Internet and a Rand-McNally atlas. It’s in the public domain. — Djinn112 04:40, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC) –$ 02:38, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC) Category:Altoona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  More bad economic news! Altoona joins Reading and Harrisburg as the latest Pennsylvania city to have major financial problems!

The state on Thursday accepted Altoona into its Distressed Municipalities Program.

City officials hope “going distressed” will help avoid insolvency by relaxing restrictions on property and income taxes and by helping adjust operations in a framework that has virtually strangled all third-class cities in Pennsylvania.

“Altoona needs more than a short-term or week-by-week fix from its creditors and obligations,” stated Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker in a news release. “It needs a comprehensive recovery plan that will lay the groundwork for long-term financial solvency.”

Walker will have 30 days to appoint an Act 47 coordinator for Altoona, and the coordinator will then have 90 days to propose a recovery plan.

Read more: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/560502/City-receives-entry-into-Act-47-distressed-program.html?nav=742

Harrisburg City Council Rejects Act 47 Plan And Mayor’s Plan – State Takeover Likely

Harrisburg City Council rejected the Act 47 plan, and now they have rejected Mayor Linda Thompson’s plan one last time.  Critics say the mayor’s plan is basically the same plan as presented by the Act 47 team.

Rejecting the mayoral plan means the original plan will end up being enforced by the Commonwealth.  Council is delaying the inevitable.  However, denying the plan gives naysayers the ability to distance themselves from the plan should it go badly.  This amounts to a CYA move for the no votes on council and the ability to come back and say “I told you so!” later.

Governor Corbett says he will sign legislation to appoint an oversight board to enforce the state recommended financial recovery plan.  Harrisburg is $310 million dollars in debt from a failed retrofit of the city’s incinerator.

Harrisburg Mayor And City Council At War Over Budget

Image via Wikipedia

Controversial Harrisburg Mayor, Linda Thompson, is refusing to sign Harrisburg City Council’s proposed 2011 budget.  Mayor Thompson thinks the proposed $56 million dollar budget is deeply flawed because it underfunds the police and fire budgets.

According to Thompson, she found $4 million dollars worth of errors in the budget and she asserts this budget does not even provide for sufficient fuel to power the city’s emergency vehicles.  Thompson was quoted as comparing the proposed budget to throwing spaghetti against a wall to see if it sticks.

Mayor Thompson can veto the budget, use as line-item veto or let it pass but refuse to sign.  She has until Tuesday to make a decision.

Harrisburg was accepted into the Act 47 program in December, thereby officially making our state capital a financially distressed municipality.

Harrisburg To Layoff 10 Firefighters

Image via Wikipedia

Mayor Linda Thompson announced today that she has formally notified 10 city firemen they will be laid off early in 2011. 

Mayor Thompson has also announced the closure of one fire station.  This will leave Harrisburg with 74 Fire Department employees and one less fire station. 

The union, Local 428 of the International Association of Fire Fighters has cost saving ideas that could save $1.5 million dollars and avoid layoffs or closing a station.

Council is still reviewing Thompson’s $6.9 million dollar fire budget.  They should complete their review on Monday.