Tag Archives: Harrisburg Hospital

November News Digest

November 30, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda and Lizzy Hardison

City Election Marred by “Raffle”

Harrisburg’s uncontested mayoral election last month was supposed to be a sleepy affair, but it was upset by a raffle with apparent connections to a write-in candidate.

A Dauphin County judge issued an injunction on Election Day to stop the distribution of raffle tickets that may have encouraged people to vote a certain way in the race for Harrisburg mayor.

“The Court finds that the raffle ticket is also promoting of a particular race and suggestive of balloting,” according to the court order.

People at many city polling stations were found to be handing out raffle tickets, which promised prizes for voting. These included a new iPhone X (first prize), $500 in cash (second prize) and a $200 Best Buy gift card (third prize).

Dauphin County Sheriff Nicholas Chimienti later visited a downtown office owned by developer Jeremy Hunter, where Hunter stored both raffle tickets and flyers supporting write-in candidate Gloria Martin-Roberts.

Martin-Roberts, however, later denounced Hunter’s efforts, saying she never authorized the raffle or the flyers.

“I clearly told Jeremy, ‘do not distribute any of that information with my name on it,’” Martin-Roberts said. “He does not listen to anyone.”

Hunter also told TheBurg that he spent thousands of dollars in the primary and general elections in support of Martin-Roberts. At press time, those expenditures had not been reported to the Dauphin County elections bureau.

3rd Street Project Starts

Harrisburg officials last month broke ground on the long-awaited repaving of 3rd Street, though most of the work will not start until the spring.

Crews began on the Midtown portion with new curbing and ADA-compliant ramps at intersections. Work is expected to continue through December, depending on the weather, and will resume in March.

The entire project includes about a two-mile stretch of the main artery from Chestnut Street downtown to Seneca Street in Uptown Harrisburg.

Actual milling and paving of the street will hold off until next year, said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. The project is expected to continue throughout much of 2018, wrapping up in October.

Papenfuse stressed that the project is not just for motorists. He said the improvements will make it easier to walk and bike, as well as drive along the street.

“By the time we are done, this entire area will be returned to the residents of the city,” he said.

City Engineer Wayne Martin said that, when paving begins next year, he expects temporary road closures and detours lasting about three days at a time. He also said that some parking, about 10 spaces at a time, will be occupied by construction equipment.

As part of the project, Capital Region Water will install trees and other environmentally friendly infrastructure, including green “bump outs,” to reduce storm-water flow, said CRW board chairman J. Marc Kurowski.

He said the project is part of CRW’s City Beautiful H2O program, which is meant to replace outdated infrastructure and improve storm-water flow.

“We’ll have new trees and new ways to manage storm-water,” Papenfuse said. “This will become a showcase for design for the whole region.”

Harrisburg has contracted with Elizabethtown-based Doug Lamb Construction Inc. for the $5.5 million project, a cost split between the city and CRW. The city is paying an estimated $3.5 million, with CRW footing the remaining $2 million.

Most of the project is funded by a grant from Impact Harrisburg, a nonprofit set up as part of the city’s financial recovery.

City Incumbents Returned to Office

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse sailed to an easy re-election victory last month, despite two candidates mounting late write-in bids.

With all 28 precincts reporting, Papenfuse garnered 3,788 votes. All write-in candidates together tallied 502.

Shortly before the election, two of Papenfuse’s defeated opponents in the Democratic primary, Gloria Martin-Roberts and Lewis Butts, declared that they would mount write-in campaigns in the general election.

With his victory, Papenfuse will begin his second, four-year mayoral term in January.

Five Harrisburg City Council candidates also ran unopposed in their races. Council incumbents Wanda Williams, Shamaine Daniels and Ben Allatt each won four-year terms, as did newcomer Ausha Green. Councilman Dave Madsen earned a two-year seat.

Harrisburg Treasurer Dan Miller and Controller Charlie DeBrunner each ran unopposed and will serve four-year terms.

For school board, all the listed Democrats won four-year seats: Brian Carter, Carrie Fowler, Danielle Robinson and Judd Pittman. Incumbent James Thompson, who lost in the Democratic primary but cross-filed, lost on the Republican side.

Percel Eiland, running unopposed, took the two-year seat for school board.

One district justice seat was contested. In the race for district 12-01-05, Democrat Hanif Johnson defeated Claude Phipps, who was on the Republican ballot, by a vote of 954-347.

In Dauphin County, Republican Matthew Krupp defeated Democrat Diane Bowman in a close race for prothonotary. In the heated contest for three Court of Common Pleas judgeships, sitting Judge Lori Serratelli lost to challengers Ed Marsico, Royce Morris and John McNally.

HU Proposes Downtown High-Rise

A new high-rise may soon add to downtown Harrisburg’s skyline, as Harrisburg University of Science and Technology last month issued a request for proposals for a new, mixed-use building.

According to the RFP, the proposed building at Chestnut and S. 3rd streets would house the school’s emerging Health Science Education Center, from which it would offer degree programs in nursing, pharmaceutical sciences and other health programs.

The RFP is asking for bids of at least 200,000 square feet for educational space, plus housing for more than 300 students. The building, currently proposed to be 36 stories, may also contain amenities such as a boutique hotel, restaurant, executive conference center and/or fitness facility.

The school envisions the building as a high-rise on parcels that include 222 Chestnut St., currently a surface parking lot owned by Vartan Enterprises, and 24, 26 and 28 S. 3rd St., which contain small commercial buildings owned by Mechanicsburg-based Dauphin Land Co. Under the RFP, those low-rise, 19th-century commercial buildings would be demolished.

HU President Eric Darr said that the current property owners have agreed to sell their parcels to HU for the project. He added that the proposed location was perfectly situated between UPMC Pinnacle and the university’s main academic building on Market Street.

“Being a block away from Harrisburg Hospital makes all the sense in the world,” said Darr, who estimates the total cost of the project at $120 to $140 million.

HU has set Feb. 2 as the deadline for responses, with a proposal selection date of April 10. An evaluation committee comprised of members of the university’s executive staff, board of trustees and outside advisers will evaluate the proposals.

Darr said he hopes to break ground in 2019 and that construction should take about two years.

Overnight Shelter Opened

Following a change in policy at Harrisburg’s largest rescue mission, a downtown shelter will open an emergency overnight shelter for 30 homeless men.

Downtown Daily Bread, a soup kitchen and daytime shelter operated by Pine Street Presbyterian Church on N. 3rd Street, got approval from the city to operate a 30-bed men’s shelter from Dec. 1 to March 31 at its facility at 234 South St., according to Anne Guenin, director of Downtown Daily Bread.

Downtown Daily Bread currently runs a daily drop-in shelter where people can nap, shower, receive meals and pick up mail. It serves between 70 and 90 people on an average day, Guenin said.

The night shelter will be in the same facility as the daytime shelter, which operates from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The nighttime shelter will open at 7:30 p.m., giving crews time to clean and convert the gymnasium to a dormitory with cots, and will close at 6 a.m.

Guenin said that the shelter originated in response to an operational change at Bethesda Mission, which this year decided to focus its efforts on long-term recovery programs and open its emergency shelter only in extreme weather conditions.

Comp Plan Back on Track

Harrisburg’s long-delayed comprehensive plan appears to be back on track, as the city’s Planning Commission last month agreed on a draft plan and set forth a path for final approval.

The commission unanimously opted for a draft submitted by the Office for Planning and Architecture, a city-based firm headed by urban design consultant Bret Peters.

In May 2015, the city hired Peters for $200,000 to create a comprehensive plan, which cities use as frameworks to guide policy, ranging widely from land use to recreation. Plans typically have a shelf life of only 15 to 20 years, though Harrisburg’s had not been redrafted in some four decades.

Originally, the city expected its plan to be finished in about 10 months. However, a dispute with Peters over the editing process, communication and, especially, pay, led to a long delay.

At one point earlier this year, the city and Peters parted company after Peters wanted more money to complete the project.

That holdup ended with the commission’s decision to go with Peters’ draft, which is now public. A public hearing is slated for Jan. 10.

Following the hearing, the commission may make additional changes based on public input. It then must approve the final draft before submitting it to City Council for its approval.

More Apartments Approved

Harrisburg is poised for more apartment conversions, as the city’s Zoning Hearing Board last month gave the go-ahead to two projects.

The board voted unanimously to permit as many as 18 rental units in Tracy Mansion, which would complete the restoration of the historic Midtown building.

Owner Jack Kay of York-based Susquehanna Real Estate plans between 14 and 18 one-and two-bedroom units in the eastern portion of the century-old building at N. Front and Muench streets, space that has long sat empty.

“All of the existing architectural features will be restored and, if anything, enhanced,” Kay told board members.

Industrialist David Tracy built the 30-room mansion as a private residence in 1918. In 1951, it became an osteopathic hospital and eventually a mental health facility.

Kay bought the building in 2005 with plans to convert it to an office condominium, adding a new, seven-story building in the parking lot next door. He received zoning board approval two years later, but the project died after the recession hit in 2008.

In 2012, Kay sold the western part of the building to Char Magaro, who opened the restaurant, Char’s Tracy Mansion, there.

Kay said that he believes there now is a market in Harrisburg for upscale apartments, which motivated him to seek a special exception for that use. He said that his apartments will be “nice units” with such features as high-end finishes, river views and in-unit washers and dryers.

He said that he hopes to undertake the project next year, but that the timing depends upon securing financing, among other factors. He said that he had not yet determined rental rates, but that they would be competitive with recent projects by Harristown Enterprises and WCI Partners.

Last month, the zoning board also unanimously granted a variance to Harristown for the conversion of a downtown office building to residential space.

Harristown plans to develop 12 one- and two-bedroom apartments from a worn-out, long-empty office building at the corner of N. 2nd and Cranberry streets. It currently has the building under contract with the seller, Camp Hill-based CJ2 Group.

With Planning Commission and zoning board approvals, Harristown now must have its land use plan approved by Harrisburg City Council before it can begin the project.

Water, Sewer Rates Rise

Water and sewer rates in Harrisburg are set to increase more than 7 percent next year, as Capital Region Water passed its 2018 budget last month.

The CRW board unanimously approved the spending plan, which will raise drinking water rates 7.5 percent for all city and suburban customers. Sewer rates will go up by 7.1 percent for city customers and vary for suburban customers, depending on their location.

The 2018 full-service rates for water and sewer service are $9.46 and $6.99 per 1,000 gallons, respectively. Under the new rates, an average customer who uses 4,500 gallons of water per month will pay an additional $5.56.

A few months ago, the board was faced with even higher rate increases, in excess of 10 percent, said board Chairman J. Marc Kurowski. However, CRW was able to scale those back to more reasonable levels, he said.

“Nobody’s excited with having to have rate increases, but we’ve kept them manageable,” Kurowski said.

CRW has raised rates for several years running. For 2017, the utility increased drinking water rates by 11.6 percent and sewer rates by 7.9 percent.

David Nowotarski, CRW’s chief financial officer, said the rate increases were needed, in part, to pay for ongoing capital upgrades to water and sewer infrastructure.

For 2018, CRW expects to spend about $8.9 million for water system upgrades and about $33 million for sewer projects. CRW has several major initiatives in place to repair and upgrade the city’s aged water and sewer infrastructure.

So Noted

Brighter Living held its grand opening last month at its facility at 979 E. Park Dr., Harrisburg. Brighter Living offers daily activities for seniors such as crafting, cooking, watching movies and gardening, as well as therapeutic activities.

Merit Marketing last month acquired Portland, Ore.-based communications firm, LT Public Relations. Harrisburg-based Merit stated that the acquisition strengthens its West Coast presence and gives it a team of senior advisors in media relations, executive training and crisis communications management.

UPMC Pinnacle opened its new medical office, Strawberry Square FamilyCare, last month in downtown Harrisburg. The office features six exam rooms, a laboratory, conference room and waiting area. It is open weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., located on the first floor, atrium-level of Strawberry Square, adjacent to Rite Aid.

Changing Hands

Balm St., 119: K. & R. Thames to T. McNair, $55,000

Berryhill St., 2216: M. & N. Haile to PA Deals LLC, $31,000

Berryhill St., 2334: W. J. & J. Morrow to X. Rios & L. Vega, $52,000

Berryhill St., 2338: PA Deals LLC to L. Myers, $59,500

Briarcliff Rd., 2311: W. & E. Warren to S. & A. Cornick, $220,000

Briggs St., 2035: L. McArthur to C. & M. Bruner, $64,000

Calder St., 321: C. Steinbacher to R. & F. Armetta, $40,000

Chestnut St., 1200, 1202, 1204, 1206, & 1208: San Pef Inc. to Round Rock Investments LLC, $369,000

Derry St., 2612: J. Beal to T. Dunmyre, $68,900

Evergreen St., 26 & 28: San Pef Inc. to Round Rock Investments LLC, $95,000

Fulton St., 1418: PA Deals LLC to E. Shenk, $109,500

Girard St., 740: I. Naranjo & D. Benitez to O. Caban, $64,000

Green St., 1327: S. O’Neal to B. & S. Cincotta, $118,000

Greenwood St., 2237: J. Erb to A. & S. Rankin, $50,000

Herr St., 1614: T. Lawson to E. Andrades, $52,000

Holly St., 1914: J. Kaffaya to D. Berhe, $43,000

Hudson St., 1215: PI Capital LLC to V. Jackson, $97,000

Hummel St., 342 & 1508 Hunter St.: Equity Trust Co. Custodian Terry Casey IRA to E&K Homes, $34,000

Kensington St., 2335: PA Deals LLC to End Properties LLC, $69,500

Kensington St., 2343: PA Deals LLC to L. Myers, $59,500

Lenox St., 2032: J. & J. Belfonti to S. Ash, $43,000

Linden St., 128: Hal Don Properties LLC to A. Elkanouni, $56,500

Maclay St., 1037: J. & S. Pagliaro to P2N2, $65,000

Mercer St., 2440: T. Carey to D. Chen & M. Brinkman, $55,000

Mulberry St., 2000: L. & R. Moore to P. Robinson, $50,000

N. 2^nd St., 912: S. Meyers to J. Radabaugh, $185,000

N. 2^nd St., 1215: R. Shultz to R. & G. Armetta, $137,700

N. 2^nd St., 2401: R. Buxton to M. Rathfon & S. Ewing, $162,000

N. 2^nd St., 3301: D. & C. Gilkey to K. & K. Eshenaur, $197,900

N. 3^rd St., 1914: J. Hobbs to J. Vega Jr., $90,000

N. 3^rd St., 2016: WCI Partners LP to K. Reed, $212,000

N. 3^rd St., 3301: N. Johnson to E. Verbos, $135,000

N. 4^th St., 1336: M. Reed to R. & F. Armetta, $80,000

N. 4^th St., 1620: Keech Equity Investments LLC to Acharya Rentals LLC, $60,000

N. 4^th St., 3116: L. Deatrick to G. & J. Desgres, $90,000

N. 6^th St., 930 & 932: K. & N. Galoyan to R. & F. Armetta, $170,000

N. 5^th St., 3024: J. Olan to C. Geis, $95,000

N. 6^th St., 3020: S. McCutcheon to L. Harris, $70,300

N. 7^th St., 2301 & 2327: Sam Hill Properties LLC to DF7 LP, $410,000

N. 17^th St., 28: V. Rivas to I. Mirambeaux, $35,000

N. Cameron St., 1301: J. & J. Salinger to R. Chatue & H. Tambo, $295,000

Oakwood Rd., 2301: PI Capitol LLC to J. Swetlick, $280,00

Penn St., 1721: PA Deals LLC to L. Myers, $129,000

Pennwood Rd., 3120: S. McCoy to J. Mohler & J. Suter, $38,000

Pennwood Rd., 3143: F. Travitz to T. Marhon, $85,500

Rolleston St., 1033: V. Clyde to L. Le, $35,500

Rudy Rd., 1959: E. Ripka to J. & M. Weaver, $66,500

Rumson Dr., 2627: G. & G. Chacon to L. & M. Holston, $81,000

Rumson Dr., 2956: A. & M. Berra to R. Gonzalez & M. Cabrera, $68,000

S. 14^th St., 1407: R. Williams to City of Harrisburg, $51,000

S. 14^th St., 1417: J. Vogelsong to City of Harrisburg, $49,000

S. 14^th St., 1421: S. Mosley to City of Harrisburg, $57,000

S. 14^th St., 1425: J. Coleman & A. Dannar to City of Harrisburg, $48,500

S. 14^th St., 1430: L. & C. Matter to City of Harrisburg, $51,000

S. 14^th St., 1438: A. & M. Reuveni to City of Harrisburg, $51,000

S. 14^th St., 1444: Atlantic North Star Properties to City of Harrisburg, $55,000

S. 14^th St., 1447: C. & F. Randolph to City of Harrisburg, $46,000

S. 14^th St., 1451: C. Colon to City of Harrisburg, $57,000

S. 14^th St., 1454: J. McFarland to City of Harrisburg, $52,000

S. 25^th St., 736: M. Anderson to L. Crowder, $44,500

S. Cameron St., 130: Goldman Sachs Mortgage Co. & Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC to D&F 130 Cam LLC, $161,500

State St., 1326: Arthur A. Kusic Real Estate Investments to C. & T. Semancik, $100,000

Susquehanna St., 1635: R. Drakeford to S. & D. Williams, $99,900

Susquehanna St., 1932: St. Glecos to J. Gallant, $82,450

Swatara St., 1518: Tri County HDC Ltd to D. Kiser, $68,000

Sycamore St., 1625: T. Price to K. Fields, $79,042

Verbeke St., 208: M. Barrette to C. Malloy & K. Sica, $89,999

Wayne St., 1517: R. Palmer to J. Alvarado, $40,000

Harrisburg property sales for October 2017, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

Support Structure: Bailey House offers a home away from home for loved ones of hospital patients.

March 31, 2016 | by Priscilla Morales

Catherine Moussa, Bailey House coordinator.

Coming from Wilkes-Barre, it didn’t make sense for Tiffany Piech to travel an hour and 40 minutes to and from Harrisburg when visiting her sick friend at Harrisburg Hospital.

So, Piech stayed two blocks away at Bailey House, a Washington Street residence that houses friends and family of seriously ill patients. It was a perfect solution for Piech, who could visit with her friend, hospitalized with pneumonia, every day without burning out her car.

“The nurses told me about the Bailey House,” said Piech. “I found it to be clean and beautiful.”

PinnacleHealth established Baily House in 1987 and, since then, more than 9,300 people have stayed there. It’s named after Mrs. Charles L. Bailey, who was the first president of the Harrisburg Hospital Auxiliary.

Upon her arrival, Piech said that Catherine Moussa, Bailey House coordinator, warmly welcomed her.

“Catherine’s a sweetheart,” Piech said. “She was polite and friendly while preparing coffee and breakfast every morning. [The experience] was better than expected. The Bailey House has all the necessities, so I can just sleep and shower, while having less to think about. It helps keep the stress off.”

Bailey House actually consists of two adjoining buildings, which together can house up to seven families. The facility underwent extensive renovations last year. The living space was made cozier and more inviting, a bathroom was added, a kitchen upgraded and the interior design was refreshed. Guests stay free of charge, including all amenities like Internet, television and puzzles and games.

Baily House is run by a nonprofit board, which assists in seeing that the facility operates smoothly and guests are able to relax and take care of themselves between hospital visits, especially young mothers visiting their newborns in the NICU.

Because it doesn’t charge, Bailey House seeks help from volunteers, donations and fundraisers. In fact, most of the furniture brought in during the recent renovation was donated. Events like annual holiday tributes and fashion shows provide other means of support. Brochures and a Web presence help spread the word.

Opening Up

Families of patients who live at least 25 miles away are eligible to stay from one night to a few months at a time, on a first-come, first-served basis. Because the walk to the hospital is so short, guests typically don’t have parking or security concerns

Between hospital visits, guests can take time to rest and collect themselves before returning to see their loved ones. Moussa said that, while staying at Bailey House, families often open up to her and to each other, sharing their experiences. Bonding in this way has transformed these individual families into one, she said.

“I provide emotional support,” said Moussa. “I’m someone who they can let go of their day with.”

Although the families often are experiencing tough times, Moussa tries to turn difficult situations into less trying ones. In some cases, families have kept connected over the years after their stay.

Piech, for one, says she now feels part of the extended Bailey House family.

“I want to make a donation,” she said, expressing appreciation for her home away from home. “[Bailey House] is something I highly recommend. It’s a very nice facility.”

For more information on Bailey House and participation in fundraisers and volunteer opportunities, please visit www.pinnaclehealth.org.

December News Digest

December 30, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda

2016 Budget Passed

Harrisburg City Council last month passed the city’s 2016 spending plan, a $60.7 million budget crafted by the city administration

Council voted 5-2 in favor of the budget, though council President Wanda Williams said the spending plan would be reopened and reconsidered in January, once three new council members take their seats.

Two public hearings will precede a vote on a revised budget, she said.

As passed last month, the budget adds 36 new positions, half in a newly created Neighborhood Services division, which would be funded out of city trash bills. Besides sanitation, the new division absorbs many functions previously funded by taxes, including some road and parks maintenance.

The administration also has proposed tripling the local services tax (LST) to $3 per week per worker. The Commonwealth Court must first approve the hike, which then must be sanctioned by council.

The LST is a tax on people who have jobs in the city and earn more than an annual threshold income, which is proposed to be about $24,000. While it does affect some city residents, most of the burden falls on commuters, a point made repeatedly last month by Mayor Eric Papenfuse.

Council members Brad Koplinski and Sandra Reid were the lone votes against the spending plan. Both said they believed the budget contained excess spending and objected to any increase in the LST.

It was the final meeting for Koplinski and Reid, as well as for three-term Councilwoman Susan Brown-Wilson. Reid and Brown-Wilson did not seek re-election last year, while Koplinski lost his seat in the Democratic primary.

This month, three new council members will be sworn into office: Cornelius Johnson, Westburn Majors and Destini Hodges.

TRAN OK’d

For a third straight year, Harrisburg is issuing a tax and revenue anticipation note, a form of short-term borrowing meant to cover a potential budget shortfall.

City Council voted unanimously last month to enter into an agreement with M&T Bank for the $4.5 million TRAN, which carries an interest rate of 2.53 percent and includes a $5,000 nonrefundable fee. Any drawdown on the loan must be repaid by June 30.

Municipal finances are typically tight for the first three months of the year, until the city begins to receive property tax revenue in March. Harrisburg entered into similar loan agreements in 2014 and 2015, but never had to tap them for funds.

City officials, however, said they were more concerned this year due to the state budget deadlock. At press time, the legislature still had not passed a budget, meaning that the state’s $5 million annual contribution to the city for emergency services had not been agreed to or paid.

Streetlight Project Launched

Harrisburg last month officially launched its citywide streetlight project, which will replace all 6,100 existing streetlights with new LED bulbs.

The $3.7 million project, the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania, should be completed by April.

Officials said the project would cut the city’s electric bill by two-thirds, saving more than $500,000 per year, and that the project would pay for itself in about six years. The savings are guaranteed under a contract with The Efficiency Network, a Pittsburgh-based company managing the upgrade.

The bulk of the project cost is being paid with a $3.2 million loan from M&T Bank. The city is seeking a grant from Impact Harrisburg, a nascent nonprofit promoting infrastructure improvement and economic development, which would allow it to pay off the bank loan early if awarded.

Part of the cost is also being paid by a $500,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority and a $30,000 donation from Lighten Up Harrisburg, an organization that raises money to improve city lighting through an annual 5K run.

State Rebukes Fraud Charge

The state agency overseeing Harrisburg’s financial recovery has sharply critiqued public accusations of fraud by Mayor Eric Papenfuse in a private letter, calling them “unsubstantiated” and “categorically untrue.”

Dennis M. Davin, secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, wrote that his agency was “distressed” by Papenfuse’s claims that consultants had intentionally misrepresented how much money the city would get from its parking system.

“The team dedicated to supporting the City of Harrisburg’s recovery efforts is committed to providing the highest level of professional assistance,” Davin wrote in the letter, which TheBurg obtained through an open records request. “Given this fact, we take any allegations of fraud very seriously.”

Davin signed the letter in his role as chairman of the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority, a funding arm of his department that issued $286 million in bonds to finance the 2013 lease of the city’s parking system.

Papenfuse made his remarks at the authority’s Oct. 21 board meeting, when he addressed shortfalls in the so-called “waterfall” payments that provide critical money to the city out of overall parking revenues. The mayor suggested that professionals working on the lease had knowingly misrepresented the amount of money the system would produce.

“Frankly, I believe that these numbers of waterfall payments were inflated simply to make the numbers work for the Strong Plan, which means that essentially a fraud was perpetrated on you and us and the residents of the city,” Papenfuse said.

Papenfuse told the board that annual parking revenues to the city were around $1 million short. He said that as a result the city would have to raise taxes, and he urged the board to “hold somebody accountable” for the incorrect projections.

New School Board President

A divided Harrisburg school board last month elected Danielle Robinson as its new president.

Robinson was elected by a 4-3 vote, eking past James Thompson, who will remain vice president.

The board needed to seat a new president after the sudden resignation of former President Jennifer Smallwood, who was just re-elected in November. At press time, the board had not yet selected a replacement for Smallwood.

HDID Reauthorized

The Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District has been reauthorized for another two years.

The Harrisburg City Council voted to reauthorize the nonprofit through Dec. 31, 2017, countering the wishes of HDID officials, who had sought a five-year extension.

Since forming in 2000, the HDID has had three, five-year renewals. However, the city administration supported just a two-year extension this time so that it could more quickly assess HDID’s progress in making downtown cleaner, more attractive and more supportive of businesses.

Most of HDID’s $780,000 annual budget derives from a tax on commercial properties within the district, which covers a 25-block area of downtown Harrisburg from State Street to just south of Harrisburg Hospital.

In a public hearing in October, HDID officials staunchly defended their record of helping to keep downtown attractive and safe, even though some business owners said it should expand its mission to include areas like parking and promotion.

“Two years, five years, 10 years—it doesn’t matter,” said HDID Executive Director Todd VanderWoude following the council vote. “We’ll just keep on rolling.”

Jackson Hotel Sells

The historic Jackson Hotel has new ownership, as former City Council candidate Jeremiah Chamberlin last month bought the dilapidated property with plans to restore it.

Chamberlin purchased the three-story building on the 1000-block of N. 6^th Street in Harrisburg for $4,000 from Kerry and Lessa Helm, who had bought it earlier in the year from Dave and Diana Kegris.

For many years, German Jackson operated a hotel from the property, catering primarily to African-American visitors who were shut out of the city’s whites-only establishments.

Jackson willed the property to Kegris, who opened the Jackson House restaurant next door. Kegris, though, could not find funds to restore the large, Gothic-style main building, which became increasingly run down.

So Noted

GK Visual soon will move into a new home in the Old Fox Ridge neighborhood of Midtown Harrisburg, allowing the visual production company to grow and expand capacity. Owner Nate Kresge said his company bought the 7,000-square-foot building at 933 Rose St. last month. The building triples the company’s space from its current location in Uptown Harrisburg.

Harristown Enterprises has purchased the building housing one of Harrisburg’s oldest businesses, Walker’s Art & Framing. Under its acquisition wing, Dewberry LLC, Harristown bought the building for $350,000 from the Walker family, who will continue to run the 58-year-old business at 25 S. 3^rd St., said Harristown President and CEO Brad Jones. Harristown needed the building to complete its acquisition of a five-townhouse row, which will now be renovated with commercial space on the ground floors and apartments above, Jones said. Harristown also is renovating a six-story brick building across the street, converting the long-time office space to 15 high-end, one-bedroom apartments.

Amma Jo LLC opened a showroom location last month in Strawberry Square at 320 Market St. Run by Amma Johnson, Ammo Jo focuses on designer handbags and accessories. It serves as a fulfillment center and also features special in-store retail events. For more information, visit www.shopammajo.com.

Keystone K9, a “one-stop pet service,” debuted last month at 931 N. 7^th St. in Harrisburg. In addition to a doggie daycare, Keystone K9 offers training, grooming and boarding. More information can be found at www.keystone-k9.com.

Phyllo Greek Cuisine opened last month in the stone building of the Broad Street Market. Run by mother Anna Ntzanis and her daughter, Katerina, the stand offers a menu of Greek food staples, such as pastitsio, moussaka and spanakopita. The Ntzanis family has long run Harrisburg’s Midtown Tavern.

Capital Area Transit last month began new bus service between Harrisburg/Steelton and the Allen Road warehouses in Carlisle. The new Route C allows workers to connect to jobs in the growing warehouse complex, which houses several major employers.

Changing Hands

Calder St., 122 & 1332 N. 2^nd St.: R. & C. Horst to Bitner Rentals LLC, $600,000

Conoy St., 117: N. Woods to Mannjeim LLC, $40,000

Edward St., 240: E. Pappas to C. Messinger, $205,000

Fulton St., 1400: PA Deals LLC to Heller Investments LLC, $110,000

Green St., 1928: M. & S. Young to J. Hardie & T. Craven, $207,000

Green St., 1935: N. Williams to R. Holder, $212,000

Hale Ave., 375: M. & V. Cecka to RDR Property Management LLC, $50,000

Kensington St., 2318: M. & V. Cecka to RDR Property Management LLC, $45,000

Lewis St., 245: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development & Michaelson, Connor & Boul to M. Sheehan, $47,011

Market St., 1435: K. Quenzer to J. & M. Fitzgibbon, $33,000

North St., 239: K. Sheetz to D. McClellan, $225,000

N. 2^nd St., 935: C. Group to Zecharya International Inc., $50,000

N. 2^nd St., 2135: PA Deals LLC to Heller Investments LLC, $96,400

N. 2^nd St., 2743: US Bank National Association to A. McGinley, $60,000

N. 2^nd St., 3107: S. Howell & F. Nedermeyer to P. Bernd, $114,900

N. 3^rd St., 3221: PA Deals LLC to G. & J. Modi, $145,000

N. 4^th St., 1629: GWD Capitol Heights LP to E. Harrington, $97,000

N. 5^th St., 1628, L159: M. Saavedra to Braemar Properties LLC, $111,387

N. 5^th St., 2552: M. Haubert to D. Mallek & W. Sarris, $99,900

N. 15^th St., 183 & 185: N. Gorzynski to S. & D. Fenton & Exit Realty Capital Area Property Management, $56,935

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 313: K. Schiebel to M. Hadginske, M. Pasick & A. Steel, $89,000

N. Summit St., 28: JSD Properties LLC to L. Pitts, $32,318

Rudy Rd., 2323: O. Saleh to S. Oberlin & R. Delumen, $145,000

Rumson Dr., 310: R. & P. Giordano to E. Allen, $79,000

S. 2^nd St., 304: K. Harrison to R. & C. Trimnell, $49,000

S. 3^rd St., 25: D. & J. Walker to Dewberry LLC, $350,000

S. 17^th St., 1038: C. & S. Vazquez to C. Nguyen, $66,000

S. 19^th St., 21; 2042 N. 4^th St.; 228 Boas St.; & 1901 Forster St.: R. Shokes & Shokes Enterprises LLC to JDP 2014 LLC, $327,000

S. 25^th St., 602: M. & V. Cecka to RDR Property Management LLC, $50,000

S. 27^th St., 737: N. Shrawder to R. Reyes, $80,000

S. Front St., 801: Wells Fargo Bank NA to M. Boyer, $66,000

Susquehanna St., 1606: F. Cadmus to S. Christ, $95,000

Harrisburg property sales for November 2015, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

Pulling Back the Curtain: Harrisburg native writes, speaks on slavery, racism in her city.

January 30, 2015 | by M. Diane McCormick

Marian Cannon stood on “the big stage.”

Her spelling prowess carried her there as one of two students representing the 13 sections of eighth graders in the Camp Curtin Middle School spelling bee. The principal, acting as moderator, gave the word “catarrh.” The old-fashioned term for flu knocked out a huge percentage of kids.

“People were dropping like flies,” she said.

Then Marian took her turn.

C-A-T-A-R-R-H.

“And there was this long moment of silence,” Marian Cannon Dornell recalls now, decades later. “What happened next, I have never heard of before. The principal called back all the kids who had been knocked out.”

But the principal could try only so many end runs around the black girl who knew how to spell the hardest words.

“I went on to win that spelling bee,” Dornell says, “and I still have that gold medal from Merriam-Webster.”

It took a book of poetry, 10 years in the making, to help erase the legacy of bitterness from constant racist treatment—the segregated soda fountain, the segregated YMCA, getting cast as the laundress in school plays—that Dornell experienced during her Harrisburg childhood. Now, her book, “Unicorn in Captivity,” will be released at a Feb. 11 YWCA event examining poetry and perspectives on race in Harrisburg.

Reaching Out

Dornell was born in Harrisburg Hospital in 1939 to “sheltering, nurturing parents” who were “very conservative and very protective.”

“They made sure I knew the positive impact African Americans made on history,” she says.

Many of Dornell’s poems, to be shared and discussed at the YWCA event, pull back the curtain on the history of slavery in Harrisburg. One poem, “Naomi’s Harvest,” is set at Fort Hunter, the narrative of a woman harvesting fragrant herbs that she can’t smell but that, nonetheless, bring back memories of the mother she was torn from at a Philadelphia slave market.

A Penn State poetry professor introduced Dornell to an Altoona poet who mentored her. Dornell used poetry as a tool to “forgive Harrisburg for treating a nice girl like me in such a callous way.” She and her husband, Edwin, had been away from Harrisburg for much of their careers—his in public health, hers in nursing after their five children “left the nest.” They returned to the area recently, now living in retirement at Bethany Village.

“I reached out to Harrisburg, and Harrisburg reached out to me,” Dornell says.

Through historian George Nagle, she learned of Fort Hunter’s slavery legacy and its nearby African-American cemetery. Fort Hunter officials staged a walk to the peaceful graveyard, where Dornell read “Naomi’s Harvest” to “100 people of all ages and all races. That’s when I knew I had to forgive because people are hungry for these experiences.”

To Better Understand

Dornell says she can see “that things have improved so much” in her hometown, what with Nathaniel Gadsden’s Writers Wordshops and Jump Street “creating energy and stuff for young people to do,” and Midtown Scholar Bookstore providing “another safe place” and the YWCA with its mission of eliminating racism and empowering women.

Dornell’s appearance at the YWCA dovetails with its mission year-round—not just Black History Month, says Racial Justice Program Coordinator Amanda Arbour.

“The struggles that we have today with race and racism are so much built up on the history of our city and nation,” Arbour says. “It’s vital that we explore and learn and understand what that history is in order to better understand.”

Dornell has “always loved words.” She’s nervous about making herself vulnerable by doing readings about race, but, through her poems, she hopes to provide a platform and the language for discussing topics that some consider taboo.

“I like to take words and thoughts down to their lowest common denominator, but I’m interested in how one uses language to rhyme it, to put it in a rhythm, to spell things out with people,” she says.

If people are to shed fear and to stop categorizing others, it’s essential to understand the “living history” of slavery and racism, Dornell says. Perpetuating and handing down the fear of an African-American man walking down the street or of rap artists “speaking their own truth about life as a black” is “still a form of enslavement.”

“I use history as a way of documenting the way it was, and then I use my conversation to say that we may not be enslaving people in such a way as we own other people, but we deny them rights,” she says. “We deny them a place in the community because of our fear.”

Arbour agrees that exploring the history of slavery helps reveal the root causes of racism and ongoing tension around such incidents as the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

“Racism is always present, even though it’s under the surface,” Arbour says. “When things like that happen, that just brings it out. White people, in particular, don’t talk enough about race. It’s an educational opportunity for everyone to learn about our history.”

Through her poetry, Dornell wants to expose readers and listeners to “the links between the history and the legacy and the choices they make today.”

“It’s a different way of using art and history as a way to encourage people to think about their actions and their thoughts every day regarding race, racism and justice,” she says.

The book launch and lecture, “Unicorn in Captivity: Poetry & Perspectives on Race in Harrisburg,” by Marian Cannon Dornell will be held on Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m., with light refreshments at 5 p.m., at the YWCA Greater Harrisburg, 1101 Market St., Harrisburg. The snow date is Feb. 24. Visit www.ywcahbg.com.

Residential Resurrection: You know that cruddy, old office building where you got your first job? It might just be the latest thing in stylish downtown living.

July 31, 2014 | by Lawrance Binda

In June, Jennifer Lazarski moved into a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Harrisburg.

Normally, this would hardly be a remarkable event, as downtown has a number of apartment buildings, large and small, and people come and go all the time.

Lazarski, though, was a pioneer of sorts. She became one of the first tenants at 130 Locust St., a high-end, office-to-residential conversion that suddenly has become the next big thing in downtown living.

“I wanted to be downtown,” said the 28-year-old Lazarski, a nurse at Harrisburg Hospital. “Now, I can walk to work and to restaurants or to have a drink with friends.”

Lazarski was living in Hershey, but found the commute “frustrating,” she said. So, she began searching Harrisburg for a new home, only to be disappointed by housing that was not up to her standards.

Finally, she learned about 130 Locust, a time-worn office building that was being re-developed into 14 one- and two-bedroom apartments with new floors, exposed brick, skylights, stainless steel appliances and other designer finishes.

“It’s urban and has character and was all brand-new,” she said. “I felt it was perfect for a young professional who wanted something modern to live in.”

As the downtown office market has cooled, developers have found salvation for Harrisburg’s vintage properties in an unlikely place: upscale residential. Turns out that professionals like Lazarski don’t mind paying a bit more in rent for a nice apartment in a boutique building near restaurants, nightlife and, often, work.

“They want aspirational space,” said David Butcher, president of WCI Partners, which re-developed the building. “This type of city living is resonating with their aspirations, with their artistic, financial, political aspirations.”

New Era

You can break down the history of downtown housing in Harrisburg into three rough phases. The first spanned the initial settlement of the city, from the colonial to the Victorian periods. Much of that stock has been lost to the wrecking ball, though a few charming pockets remain.

The second phase came with the advent of high-rise living in the 1960s and ‘70s. That era gave us such modernist buildings as Executive House, Pennsylvania Place and Presbyterian Apartments.

The current phase is apart from both those periods in design and living. It involves renovating and repurposing Harrisburg’s old, often-rundown (sometimes empty) office stock into small, boutique apartment buildings, with rents usually around $1,000 a month for a medium-sized, one-bedroom unit.

WCI stuck its toe into this market last year with a high-end renovation of two units above Little Amps Coffee Roasters at N. 2^nd and State streets. After those apartments leased quickly, the company began scouring downtown for more opportunities, said Butcher.

That search led to the purchase of 130 Locust St., which, within weeks of completion, was almost completely leased. The company next acquired 210 Walnut St., the long-time home of the Keefer, Wood, Allen & Rahal law firm. WCI now is converting that four-story structure at the corner of Walnut and Court streets into a 21-unit apartment building, expected to deliver next April.

And it isn’t just WCI.

Across the street from the state Capitol, Brickbox Enterprises just finished its conversion of the former Barto office building to the LUX, a 42-unit planned community whose first occupants moved in last month. In recent years, Brickbox also re-developed several old, dilapidated office buildings into housing for Harrisburg University students.

Nearby, Vartan Group is finishing up work on a six-unit conversion of the long-vacant Carson Coover House at 223 Pine St. Down on Front Street, Vartan just bought the historic, circa-1863 John Hanna Briggs Mansion, the long-time headquarters of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. That 5,500-square-foot building is slated to become seven luxury riverfront apartments.

Even the 1960s-era Executive House has jumped on the trend, last year converting three entire floors from offices to upscale apartments.

“There’s so much vacant office space in the city of Harrisburg,” said Derek Dilks, vice president of property development for Brickbox. “If people are willing to live in these cool spaces, why not adapt them?”

This type of living has strong appeal to younger people, said Dilks. But it also attracts single professionals of all ages; married couples, mostly without children; and empty-nesters who want to live in a walkable community, he said.

“People want the amenities,” he said. “They want to be close to the restaurants, close to the river.”

To illustrate that point, Nicole Conway shared a story from her own experience. A dozen years ago, fresh out of law school, she wanted to live downtown to be near the restaurants, bars and clubs that were popping up along 2^nd Street. She decided against it after she couldn’t find the well-appointed apartment she wanted.

“There are people who want to live in the city who are looking for nice rental,” said Conway, executive vice president and general counsel for Vartan Group. “Until recently, you had trouble finding it.”

Long-Term Trend

Of course, you can’t mention downtown Harrisburg without bringing up the issue of parking, as the cost of on-street spaces has doubled since January. Monthly garage rates also have increased, though not nearly as much.

Generally speaking, the developers said they thought the issue had been overblown. Indeed, some people will not live downtown because of the parking situation. Others, however, find they don’t need to own a car or they reverse commute or they take advantage of Standard Parking’s special rates for downtown dwellers, they said. In some cases, units come with parking.

“It’s not quite as big of a deal as people are making of it,” said Vartan’s Conway. “You go to any other city in Pennsylvania or the United States, and you will face the same challenge. You have to pay to park. It’s just part of being in a city.”

If parking were a deal-breaker, these developers wouldn’t be buying and renovating buildings, and people wouldn’t be moving into them, the developers said.

“People have to weigh the barriers versus the benefits,” said Dilks. “People who decide to live [downtown] are yearning to be closer to restaurants and work and to have greater interactions with others.”

Several other trends are favoring downtown residential development. Banks are beginning to lend again, and developers, seeing pent-up demand, are looking to renovate and build, said Dilks.

Harrisburg might just follow other cities in creating a “living downtown,” a place where people reside, not just work and party. That would further affirm the city’s status as a center for dining and nightlife, but it also might offer a better market for something the city clearly lacks—quality retail.

“It’s a trend, and it’s a long-time trend,” he said. “The trend to move out of the city lasted 30 years. Hopefully, this trend will last for that long of a time.”

Disclosure: TheBurg’s publisher, Alex Hartzler, is a principal at WCI Partners LP.

Non-Profit Problem: About half the property in Harrisburg is nontaxable. Can anything be done about it?

July 31, 2013 | by Reggie Sheffield and Lawrance Binda

Non-profits in downtown Harrisburg.

Forum Place. Harrisburg Hospital. The Farm Show complex. The state Capitol.

Four places, four very different businesses, one thing in common—all are regarded as nonprofit entities, so pay no property taxes to their host city, Harrisburg.

According to the city treasurer’s office, Harrisburg is home to 716 parcels that are tax-exempt due to their non-profit status. Making the situation even more difficult: more than 75 percent of those parcels belong to either the government or government-related entities, which by law cannot be taxed, according to the Harrisburg receiver’s office.

So, what’s a city to do?

For years, the answer was “not much,” as the state did with Harrisburg pretty much what it wanted. Condemn and raze entire neighborhoods? Sure. Turn local streets into forbidding, perilous highways to accommodate suburban workers? Why not? Expand and take more properties off the tax roles? OK.

During the past century, the city has toggled between actively participating in its own destruction by facilitating the state’s unquenchable thirst for more land and, more recently, lamely complaining in City Council meetings and mayoral press conferences that the state does not pay its fair share for the services it consumes.

Last month, the situation changed somewhat. The state passed a 2013-14 budget that gave Harrisburg $5 million in “fire protection” funds, representing the largest-ever direct infusion of cash from the state as part of a regular budget process.

However, as it stands right now, that level of funding is a one-shot, one-year deal. Meanwhile, there are numerous other issues emerging that could affect the capital city’s relationship with the many nonprofit entities that call Harrisburg home.

State of the State Funding

To say that John Campbell was surprised would be an understatement.

“I’ll be honest with you—I was shocked,” said Campbell, Harrisburg’s treasurer.

Campbell was speaking of the $5 million the state coughed up to the city, double the amount allocated in the 2012-13 budget. His surprise was heightened by the fact that House Republicans, in their budget plan, had already slashed the allocation to $496,000.

Most city officials, including Mayor Linda Thompson, expected the amount to increase once the budget bill was finalized. In the end, however, it surpassed nearly everyone’s expectations.

“It’s a figure we’ve never received before,” Campbell said.

State Sen. Rob Teplitz said he and Rep. Patty Kim had worked hard to get funding restored, hoping to reach $4 million, a figure most city officials had set their eyes on. Receiver William Lynch lobbied Gov. Tom Corbett and Republican legislative leaders for another $1 million, which is how Harrisburg ended up with $5 million for this fiscal year, said Teplitz.

“It really is a windfall,” he said. “But we’re not asking for extra payment. We’re only asking for fair compensation.”

That fair compensation is, technically speaking, for protecting state buildings from fire, thus the money is accounted for in the state budget’s line item for fire protection. In fact, according to Teplitz, the city had to pledge the money would go only for that purpose.

However, it’s a stretch to believe that 60 percent of the city Fire Bureau’s $8.4 million budget goes to safeguarding the 40 buildings that constitute the Capitol complex. The money, in fact, flows to the city’s general fund, which does include the Fire Bureau, but also includes most other parts of the city government. So, money that goes into the Fire Bureau budget simply frees up funds elsewhere for the financially strapped, indebted city.

In the end, the state uses fire protection as a politically expedient way to compensate Harrisburg. It’s simply easier to fund a single, existing line item for a specific use than to transfer money into the general fund of the much-criticized and ostracized city. Besides, firefighters have hero clout lacking in, let’s say, the city’s IT department.

Harrisburg is happy to go along with this process because the state has habitually underfunded the city for services rendered: use of its roads, its emergency services, its public works and sanitation staff. Each weekday, the population of Harrisburg doubles, largely due to the presence of the state government, with the small population of the largely poor city left to pick up the tab of this white-collar invasion.

Until this year, the state has never owned up to its obligation as, by far, the largest employer and landowner in Harrisburg. Exempt from having to pay property taxes, the legislature allocated whatever it wanted, with the amount bouncing around from year to year. So, under the Reed administration, the state often provided just over $1 million. In 2010, that amount was cut to $987,000 and then to $496,000 in 2011. After the city’s financial crisis hit full-on, the state used the line item to assist the city to the tune of $2.5 million for 2012 and now $5 million.

City officials seem satisfied with that level—that $5 million finally compensates the city fairly. The problem, however, is that the funding level is not guaranteed going forward. It’s subject to the legislature’s annual horse-trading extravaganza known as the budget process. So, will the state reduce funding again once the city’s finances stabilize or when Corbett is no longer governor or Lynch is no longer receiver? No one knows.

Teplitz said he’s introducing legislation in the fall that would stabilize Harrisburg’s state funding, ensuring the city fair compensation in the fire protection line item that also would allow it to plan financially from year to year.

“The legislation would require the actual cost to get reimbursed,” he said.

Teplitz acknowledged passing such legislation would be an uphill climb, but vowed to put in a strong effort.

“Then we wouldn’t have to go begging every year,” he said.

PILOT Programs

In Harrisburg, after the state government, the next largest block of tax-exempt properties in the city belongs to PinnacleHealth System, one of the area’s largest healthcare providers, which is listed as a non-profit 501(3), the IRS’s designation for a tax-exempt organization. In the city, healthcare providers alone account for 11 percent of the non-taxable properties. If taxed, the PinnacleHealth parcels alone would bring in more than $1.13 million in property tax revenue, according to the receiver’s report.

But Pinnacle, like many other non-profits, instead makes Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) to the city, amounting to more than $120,000 a year. Pinnacle spokeswoman Kelly McCall said in an e-mail that a 1998 court settlement prevented her from discussing specifics.

“Our PILOT was established through the Settlement Agreement, and the Agreement contains a confidentiality provision. We do make PILOT payments to the City of Harrisburg, Harrisburg School District and Dauphin County,” McCall’s e-mail said.

“PinnacleHealth provided more than $14.8 million in community benefits and reached more than 2.1 million people through programs and services, such as free screenings, community health education and chronic disease management in fiscal year 2012.

In addition, PinnacleHealth has supported numerous initiatives within Harrisburg, including increasing access to healthcare for the underserved through the Keystone Continuum, donating to maintain extracurricular activities and athletic programs in the Harrisburg School District and providing nutrition and physical activity education and meals to Harrisburg School District students,” she continued.

Overall, Harrisburg received a total of more than $420,000 in PILOTs in 2009, $410,244 in 2010 and $420,286 in 2011. According to city records, Harrisburg anticipates, in its 2013 budget, receiving about $425,000 in PILOTs. Next to Pinnacle, PHEAA, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, state is the second biggest PILOT contributor, sending in $107,444.79 each year for properties in the city.

“Under the Purely Public Charities Act, (Act 55), any PILOT payments are totally voluntary on the part of the non-profit,” said Cory Angell, a spokesperson for city receiver Lynch.

While a noteworthy addition to any municipal budget, PILOTs rarely constitute more than 1 percent of any total budget, according to an exhaustive 2010 nationwide study of the issue conducted by the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy. In Harrisburg, PILOTs account for about three-quarters of 1 percent of the budget, a figure largely unchanged for the past decade.

Tony Ross, president of the United Way of Pennsylvania, which has members who partner with more than 5,000 not-for-profit social service agencies statewide, said that standardizing a definition of what is and what is not a non-profit in Pennsylvania would help eliminate the fear that smaller non-profits—which have fewer assets and resources than the healthcare behemoths—end up bearing an undue share of the tax burden if stripped of their tax-exempt statuses. It would also help clear up the issue of just what qualifies as a non-profit from county to county.

“We’re concerned that non-profits are getting lumped into one group,” Ross said.

Ross explained that many of his affiliates, which tend to be smaller, community-based organizations, lack the assets and resources of the healthcare giants. What is a PILOT to PinnacleHealth could be a life or death situation to a smaller organization, he said.

“From what I can tell, those sorts of distinctions aren’t being made,” Ross said. “Whatever is done, it needs to be uniform across the state.”

“This tension has been going on for a long time,” said Joe Geiger, who until recently was the long-time director of the Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Organizations. “It wouldn’t even be close to enough money to offset the deficit. And there are some unintended consequences that could occur where some non-profits who are currently operating in Harrisburg may decide they need to find a more favorable environment in which to operate.”

“Poor decisions like that are what happened with the incinerator. That’s where the problem is. It’s not the fact that non-profits aren’t paying taxes,” Geiger said.

“Very few non-profits are property tax-exempt,” Geiger explained. “Most of them rent their properties and pay their taxes through the rent that they pay. So, when you look at the amount of debt that Harrisburg is in and you look at the amount of money that they could leverage out of charities, it’s not going to come anywhere close to the solution.”

“Non-profits and the local government ought to be working together to look at solutions, not taking each other to court,” he said.

Baseball & Bathrooms

After the state and PinnacleHealth, a host of smaller nonprofits dot the Harrisburg landscape (see map). In fact, you can walk through much of downtown and Midtown and hit one after another.

Did you know that Metro Bank Park is still owned by the city, so is tax-exempt even though Harrisburg sold the Senators baseball team in 2007? The team now leases the ballpark from the city.

The restrooms at Sunshine Park on Herr Street are also tax exempt, as is the controversial Forum Place building on Walnut Street, even though it’s valued at more than $63 million.

Rep. Patty Kim, a first-year Democrat representing Harrisburg’s 103^rd district, said she thinks it’s time for a public hearing as legislators have been getting lots of mail from the public. She also said she thinks that the non-profit designation should be made closer to home.

“I think it should be a municipal decision if it comes to that because, if the state does it, it’s going to be like a cookie-cutter formula that doesn’t fit with everybody’s unique situations in the city,” she said.

Kim said she was working with Rep. Robert L. Freeman, a Democrat from the 136^th district representing Easton and Northampton County, as a future co-sponsor of a proposed bill that would ensure additional resources to cities like Harrisburg that have a disproportionate number of tax-exempt properties.

Speaking of legislation, a legislative solution is brewing that could expand the definition of a non-profit in Pennsylvania, which might further impact Harrisburg.

In June, the House Finance Committee stopped short of a vote on a proposed law that would amend the state constitution to give the General Assembly the power to define a tax-exempt non-profit statewide. The House was taking its look at the proposed new standards, known as Senate Bill No. 4, after the Senate approved it in March.

Pinnacle’s McCall said that Pinnacle is also closely watching the progress of the proposed constitutional amendment, which likely would lead to a more liberal definition of what qualifies to be a non-profit.

“PinnacleHealth supports the legislation, as it will provide clarity and uniform treatment of charities throughout Pennsylvania,” she said.

In Pinnacle’s case, its payments are made as a result of a 1998 settlement reached with the Dauphin County Board of Assessment Appeals after the hospital appealed the county’s decision stripping the hospital’s tax exempt status in 1993. The reason the tax board took the hospital off the tax-exempt rolls? The county was not satisfied that the hospital had continued to meet the five-prong “HUP test”—established by a 1985 court decision to help determine what is a non-profit—because it engaged in competitive practices with other local healthcare providers.

Dauphin County Judge Richard A. Lewis later agreed, ruling that Pinnacle’s acquisition of local private physician practices as part of its expansion of an integrated healthcare system evidenced a private profit motive on the part of the hospital.

“The taxing authorities argue that the physician practices compete with private physicians and that such competition is evidence of a private profit motive. This court finds that [Pinnacle] cannot compete while still maintaining its charitable mission and charitable nature,” Lewis wrote.

Eric Montarti, senior policy analyst with the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit taxpayer interest research group, said that hospitals, in a sense, are placed in a vulnerable position since no one wants to be seen as wishing to start taxing churches and schools.

“Take away these things that you’re never going to tax. Take away these things that the politicians are never going to go after, and what are you left with?”

Pittsburgh, like Harrisburg, has an Act 47 problem, the legislative term used to describe when the state appoints an outsider to oversee a city’s finances because the municipality is so far in debt that it has been declared a financially “distressed” city. In 2004, Pittsburgh began grappling with a $34.3 million deficit.

“It obviously didn’t solve the city of Pittsburgh’s issue,” he said.

Harrisburg, a city with a $56.3 million budget, currently faces an operating deficit of about $12 million and a $350 million debt tied to its botched incinerator retrofit, which has pushed the city to the brink of bankruptcy.

Montarti said that trying to, in effect, indirectly tax tax-exempts is the wrong direction to take as nonprofits attract people who, for example, buy properties in the municipalities and therefore later end up paying property taxes. Montarti said that those same people also end up paying taxes on local services while otherwise helping to support the local economy. The city, instead of trying to tax non-profits, should first get its own fiscal house in order, he said.

“Our argument would have been, ‘Well, okay, the city of Pittsburgh really needs to look at what it’s spending and what it’s doing in terms of how many services it provides, how many people it employs, how much cooperation there is between it and the county on similar services,’” he said.

People have made the same point about Harrisburg. Over the past few years, however, Harrisburg has slashed and slashed and slashed. The once-bloated city government now is down to its bare bones, challenged to deliver even basic services.

After years of underfunding its obligations, the state government has finally stepped up—at least for one year. PinnacleHealth also has shown that it’s willing to be civic-minded. Will other nonprofits follow suit? Given the city’s vast financial needs, PILOT payments may never amount to too much. However, Harrisburg does provide these nonprofit organizations with vital services. Given its desperate shape, the city is searching for every penny it can find.

Reggie Sheffield is a freelance reporter in Harrisburg. He may be reached at troylus@comcast.net.

Tag Archives: Harrisburg Hospital

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Harrisburg celebrates Earth Day, announces Lights Out initiative to save migrating birds

Scrap That: Volunteers needed to help clean up Harrisburg during city-wide event

City Council questions selection of Broad Street Market construction manager, allots money for pools

Harrisburg City Council weighs senior apartment project, park development, pool repair

December News Digest

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General election contest set for Harrisburg area, as races for Congress, statehouse take shape

Harrisburg celebrates Earth Day, announces Lights Out initiative to save migrating birds

The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

Scrap That: Volunteers needed to help clean up Harrisburg during city-wide event

Pulling Back the Curtain: Harrisburg native writes, speaks on slavery, racism in her city.

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Harrisburg celebrates Earth Day, announces Lights Out initiative to save migrating birds

Scrap That: Volunteers needed to help clean up Harrisburg during city-wide event

City Council questions selection of Broad Street Market construction manager, allots money for pools

Harrisburg City Council weighs senior apartment project, park development, pool repair

Residential Resurrection: You know that cruddy, old office building where you got your first job? It might just be the latest thing in stylish downtown living.

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Harrisburg celebrates Earth Day, announces Lights Out initiative to save migrating birds

Scrap That: Volunteers needed to help clean up Harrisburg during city-wide event

City Council questions selection of Broad Street Market construction manager, allots money for pools

Harrisburg City Council weighs senior apartment project, park development, pool repair

Non-Profit Problem: About half the property in Harrisburg is nontaxable. Can anything be done about it?

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Harrisburg celebrates Earth Day, announces Lights Out initiative to save migrating birds

Scrap That: Volunteers needed to help clean up Harrisburg during city-wide event

City Council questions selection of Broad Street Market construction manager, allots money for pools

Harrisburg City Council weighs senior apartment project, park development, pool repair