Financial Recovery Plan for the City of Harrisburg Released by Act 47 Coordinator

Public Comment Now Sought; Public Meeting Slated for June 28

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Act 47 coordinator for the City of Harrisburg – appointed by the Rendell administration on Jan. 12 of this year – has submitted a financial recovery plan to the city, the Department of Community and Economic Development announced today.  

The financial recovery plan addresses Harrisburg's structural and increasing deficit, debt related issues including the resource recovery facility debt, and short term cash-flow needs.

On Jan. 12, former DCED Secretary Austin Burke selected a team led by Novak Consulting Group to develop and implement Harrisburg's Act 47 recovery plan. The team was chosen among eight proposals that were submitted to the department.

In accordance with the act, Harrisburg's financial recovery plan can be found at www.newpa.com by searching keyword "Act 47."

A public comment period will run until Tuesday, June 28. All written comments on the plan should be submitted to the coordinator, Julia Novak, The Novak Consulting Group, 210 Glenmary Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45201 or [email protected].

A public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28 in the auditorium of John Harris High School, 2451 Market Street, Harrisburg.  Individuals wishing to provide testimony are encouraged to register their interest by June 24 with the plan coordinator listed above.

Individuals requiring special accommodations to attend the hearing should contact Fred A. Reddig at the Department of Community and Economic Development, 400 North Street, 4th Floor, Commonwealth Keystone Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120 or 1-888-223-6837.

Key goals of the Act 47 plan include:

• Modernize, outsource and share service delivery;
• Improve management infrastructure and accountability;
• Contain fast-growing employee compensation;
• Focus on housing and long-term redevelopment, and
• Enhance revenues.

Major initiatives to address Harrisburg's structural deficit include:

• Combining Park Maintenance into the Department of Public Works;
• Outsourcing commercial sanitation collection;
• Negotiate contracts to freeze wages, restructure health benefits and control the growth of personnel costs;
• A complement reduction of 19 individuals across city departments;
• Selling or leasing certain assets;
• Pursuing payments in lieu of taxes from non-profit entities, and
• Increasing property taxes only when necessary to close remaining gaps between revenues and expenditures.

To address the resource recovery facility debt, the recovery plan includes a recommendation of the sale or lease of assets of the Harrisburg Parking Authority and the sale of the resource recovery facility to the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority. To accommodate for the loss in revenue from the sale of lease of these assets, the plan calls for additional revenues including a $2 million annual payment from Dauphin County's Gaming Funds and the increase of property taxes by 0.8 mills.  

The coordinator may revise the plan based on any public comments received. If the plan is revised, a final recovery plan will be filed for the City of Harrisburg within 10 days of the hearing.

Harrisburg city council then will have 25 days from the coordinator's hearing to act on the recovery plan.

The City of Harrisburg was deemed financially distressed under the guidelines of Act 47 in December 2010.  

For more information on Act 47 or to download a copy of the financial recovery plan, visit www.newpa.com or call 1-866-466-3972.

Media contacts: Steven Kratz or Jamie Yates, 717-783-1132

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development