Harrisburg Finalizes Budget
Harrisburg last month passed a 2018 budget did not raise city tax rates, but added a number of new salaried positions and approved millions of dollars in capital investments.
The final budget did not differ much from that proposed by Mayor Eric Papenfuse in late November, which leveraged higher revenue from a growing tax base to increase the city’s operating budget from $61 million last year to $65 million in 2018. The city will also spend $9.2 million from its cash reserves, which will cover a $2 million debt payment and $7.2 million in capital improvement projects.
Expenditures in 2018 will increase in two main categories: personnel and capital projects.
On the personnel front, the city budgeted for $32.5 million in salaries compared to $31 million in 2017. That figure, which excludes healthcare costs, will create seven new management positions and two new sanitation positions. The budget permits the Fire Bureau to make five hires and the Police Bureau to recruit 20 new officers.
The additional personnel funds will also increase salaries for two positions in the law bureau and award raises to sanitation workers represented by the AFSCME union.
The city defines a capital project as any expenditure exceeding $5,000. In 2018, proposed capital projects include $1 million on new radios and patrol cars for police, $700,000 for work on the 15th Street police substation and $80,000 for police body cameras. About $450,000 will go towards renovating city playgrounds, and projects to renovate Reservoir Park will receive almost $1 million thanks to a last minute cash transfer by Council.
Composting Plan to Proceed
Harrisburg intends to move ahead with plans to build a composting facility in Susquehanna Township, despite continued opposition from some township residents.
Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the city will apply for a facility permit with the state Department of Environmental Protection this month. If DEP grants the permit, which Papenfuse believes it will, the city will begin to convert the site to a compost facility.
City officials have campaigned to build a composting facility at 1850 Stanley Rd. since summer 2017. After they were met with fierce opposition from some residents in Susquehanna Township, they agreed to delay the permit application until they had more public support. Over the following months they hosted informational sessions and visits to comparable sites to teach residents about composting.
Papenfuse made his final pitch at a township board of commissioners meeting last month, at which several township residents expressed opposition. Nonetheless, he said he believes the project has won enough support in the community to proceed.
“There’s a handful of people from the neighborhood who oppose it, but it’s not overwhelming,” he said.
Papenfuse told the crowd that composting leaves and lawn waste—which essentially involves letting the material decompose into the ground—does not carry any risks to humans, soil or water sources.
Some residents claimed that the facility would create odors or mar neighborhood views. Others worried about noise from the machinery and increased traffic from the Public Works Department trucks that transport the waste.
Papenfuse assured residents that the site would be unobtrusive when it opens. Public Works vehicles will use mostly Harrisburg roads to get to the site, and employees will operate the machinery on a limited, set schedule.
Allison Hill Substation
The Harrisburg Police Bureau is on track to open a police substation in Allison Hill in late summer 2018, but officials said last month that it would not be open around the clock.
During a hearing on the 2018 budget, Police Chief Tom Carter and Capt. Derric Moody told City Council that the substation will not operate 24/7 or have civilian staff when it opens in August.
Police may expand operations at the substation as they grow their ranks. The city hopes to hire 20 new officers and a community policing coordinator next year.
“Our goal is to have full service there, but, realistically speaking, we can’t currently achieve that with the manpower we have,” Moody said.
The plan is to use the substation as a staging area for specialized police units and an outpost for officers responding to calls in Allison Hill. The 1,600-square-foot building on S. 15th Street will include a space for police trainings and community meetings, as well as a squad room, break room, equipment room and locker room with showers.
It will also have an area for a receptionist, though there are currently no plans to hire one. Members of the public will be able to enter the substation for public meetings or interviews with police officers, but will not have access the same administrative services as the Public Safety headquarters downtown.
“We’re trying to provide a central location for officers,” Moody said.
Act 47 to Continue
Harrisburg is likely to spend another three years in the state’s Act 47 program for financially distressed municipalities, according to a state advisor who oversees the city’s finances.
Marita Kelly, Harrisburg’s Act 47 coordinator for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, last month praised the city’s “many achievements” since it entered Act 47 in 2011.
However, she believes that the city will not be able to afford to exit the program at the end of 2018, when it becomes eligible. While it would regain independent financial oversight, it would stand to lose some $13 million in revenue without the extra taxing authority allowed under the program.
Kelly added that Harrisburg has avoided some of the problems that plague other third-class cities across the state, such as difficulty financing legacy payments—healthcare and benefit payments for current and retired employees.
Bruce Weber, the city’s budget and finance director, reported that two of the city’s pension accounts are fully funded, but a third fund for police pensions is causing some concern.
“We only have one that’s slightly in distress,” Weber said. “We are contributing to it every year.”
Kelly will make a formal recommendation for Harrisburg’s Act 47 status in March. The only condition that would enable the city to exit the program would be a change to the third-class city code or a set of special taxing provisions for the city approved by the state legislature.
County Taxes Hold Steady
The Dauphin County commissioners last month passed a 2018 budget that keeps property taxes steady for a 13th consecutive year.
The three-person board passed a $241 million budget that contains no increase in the county portion of the property tax, which will remain unchanged at 6.876 mills.
The county does expect to spend more than it takes in for 2018, but plans to use as much as $12.5 million in reserve funds to make up the shortfall. The county stated that it still expects to have a reserve fund balance of about $25 million by the end of 2018.
Last year, Dauphin County also balanced its budget by dipping into its reserve fund. It estimated that it would spend $12.5 million in reserves, but will only spend about $5.2 million by year-end, according to current county estimates.
The county stated that it will add funds to the county coroner’s office in 2018 to deal with the rise in opioid-related deaths. Last year, there were 85 overdose deaths in the county, but the coroner expects more than 100 by Dec. 31.
Sewer Projects Begin
Capital Region Water began a new round of sewer replacement and improvements last moth, affecting several neighborhoods in Harrisburg.
Andrew Bliss, community outreach manager, said CRW is staggering the $700,000 project through the end of January. In all, CRW will repair more than 800 feet of aging and broken sewer mains and manholes at five locations.
The individual projects are:
– Mid-December to early January
S. 13th Street, between Market Street and Howard Street
New manhole, 18 feet of new sewer pipe
– End of December to early January
Cameron and Market streets
Spray on concrete liner, 18-inch sewer pipe
– Early January to end of January
Magnolia Street between Cameron and 12th streets
New manhole on Cameron Street, pipe lining
– Mid-January to end of January
Derry Street between 13th and 14th Streets
New manhole, 13 feet of pipe, pipe lining
– Mid-January to end of January
Fulton and Hamilton streets
New manhole connection
Potential impacts of the construction include street closures, parking restrictions, construction noise and temporary sewer service interruptions. When the pipe replacement is complete, the road will be temporarily patched until final street restoration is completed in the spring of 2018, Bliss said.
Customers with questions can contact Capital Region Water by phone at 888-510-0606 or by email at info@capitalregionwater.com.
So Noted
Harrisburg School Board last month tabled a motion on whether to search for a new school district superintendent. The board is expected to revisit the issue again later this year, as Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney’s contract expires in June.
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology last month unveiled its new, expanded campus in central Philadelphia. HU is sharing the 38,000 square feet of space at 1500 Spring Garden St. with Hussian College.
Harrisburg Young Professionals last month selected Suzanne Patackis as president of the 2018 executive board, replacing outgoing President Joe Tertel. HYP also announced that Jeff Copus and Adeolu Bakare will serve as co-vice presidents, Brittany Brock as secretary and Jeremy Scheibelhut as treasurer.
UPMC Pinnacle last month named Dr. James Raczek as its new chief medical officer. In that role, Raczek leads quality and safety programs, medical education and medical staff relationships and contributes to strategic planning and implementation.
Changing Hands
Barkley Lane, 2502: US Bank National Assoc. to S. Vetock, $32,000
Barkley Lane, 2507: R.C. Medellin to R. Medellin, $48,000
Boas St., 406: A. Heisey to S. Higginbotham, $115,000
Briggs St., 270: M. Ennis to E. & A. Williams, $228,000
Brookwood St., 2435: R. House to I. & K. Mita, $56,000
Calder St., 262: J. Goldberg to R. Yaegle, $118,000
Calder St., 500: W. Tatar to S. Hoffman, $125,000
Conoy St., 115: A. & C. Stoudt to R. Rodino, $145,000
Conoy St., 121: A. Spisask to K. Russell, $92,500
Cumberland St., 214: D. & E. Zampogna to M. Santalucia, $141,000
Fulton St., 1709: J. Ganeva to C. Messner, $110,000
Green St., 1624: K. Lewis to P. & M. Rowan, $192,000
Green St., 1817: T. & L. Sopcak to B. Scelta, $129,000
Green St., 1826: D. & J. Kalbach to D. Ober, $165,000
Industrial Rd., 3300: Pennsylvania Terminals Corp. to 3300 Industrial Road Associates LP, $865,000
Market St., 1923: K. Griffith to D. Thomas, $70,000
Mercer St., 2430: PA Deals LLC to R. Buehner, $63,900
Mercer St., 2464: C. Hobbs to T. & J. Knaub, $60,000
North St., 232: E. Finkelstein to G. Kramer, $125,000
N. 2nd St., 812: A. Meoli to Diocese of Harrisburg, $212,000
N. 2nd St., 2234: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. to C. Eisner, $43,200
N. 2nd St., 2527: GRSW Stewart Real Estate Trust to K. & D. Maltzie, $174,000
N. 2nd St., 3211: E. & J. Daschbach to K. McRae, $99,900
N. 3rd St., 925: D. Bobinchek & 921 Home LLC to 921 Home LLC, $105,000
N. 3rd St., 2340: T. Wadlinger to D. & S. Houck, $168,265
N. 5th St., 2736: PA Deals LLC to MidAtlantic IR LLC & Jennifer Fernandes IRA, $63,000
N. 13th St., 139: Falco Inc. to Round the Horn LLC, $45,000
N. 16th St., 914: J. & H. Wilbur to JB2 Properties LLC, $59,900
N. 16th St., 916: PA Deals LLC to Z. Kissinger, $69,900
N. 17th St., 1122: MBHH RE LLC to S. Garcia, $31,000
Peffer St., 228: N. & L. Chohany to B. Matuszny, $173,000
Peffer St., 263: Members 1st Federal Credit Union to E. Patry, $49,900
Penn St., 1715: S. Dunn to BencMarq Holdings LLC, $77,001
Pennwood Rd., 3160: J. & M. Bush to T. Wylie, $150,000
Rumson Dr., 2983: C. Shenk to J. Jones, $69,000
S. 14th St., 314: J. Reichwein to E. & B. Katz, $62,000
S. 14th St., 1415: D. Fahie to City of Harrisburg, $47,000
S. 14th St., 1419: H. & C. Pollard to City of Harrisburg, $50,000
S. 14th St., 1439: R. & S. Dighe to City of Harrisburg, $50,000
S. 16th St., 435: M. Bui to L. DiGiacomo & M. Ganci, $48,000
S. 17th St., 140: Allison Hill Partners LLC to Hamilton Health Center Inc., $250,000
S. River St., 304: D. Havior to D. Ogden & Pear Tree Revocable Trust, $40,000
State St., 1406: R. & A. Sharp to JRC Properties, $80,000
Susquehanna St., 1614: J. & S. DeMuro to S. Brandon & L. Fisher, $152,000
Susquehanna St., 1701: R. Ambrose to R. Covington & T. Pean, $137,000
Susquehanna St., 1711: Susquehanna Valley Properties to N. DeMuro, $113,000
Harrisburg property sales for November 2017, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate
