Harrisburg City Council during Tuesday’s work session
The first six months of Harrisburg’s financials are in the books, and what’s the verdict?
Steady as she goes, according to the city’s finance and budget officials, who gave an update on Tuesday night to City Council.
At a council work session, city Budget Manager Erika Regalado said that, for the first two quarters of 2019, revenues came in about on budget. Property tax revenue was flat, but local income taxes came in stronger than expected, indicating a robust local employment picture.
“The economy is steady and it’s growing, and unemployment is low,” she said.
Her presentation echoed the one that Bruce Weber, director of the city’s Bureau of Financial Management, offered last week to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, a state-appointed body tasked with approving a five-year financial plan for the city.
On Tuesday night, Weber said that he expected current trends to continue through the rest of the year.
“There aren’t any surprises, hopefully,” he told council members.
The city’s 2019 budget totals nearly $110 million, which includes a $70.8 million general fund, a $20.6 million neighborhood services fund and a $9.8 million debt service fund.
In other city news, Harrisburg announced late on Tuesday that it received a $5.6 million federal grant to continue the city’s lead abatement program.
“That’s more than we’ve ever received before,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. “It’s good news for the city. It means we’ll be able to continue our lead efforts into future years.”
Specifically, Harrisburg will receive $5 million from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction grant program and $600,000 from its Healthy Homes Supplemental program. The money will allow the city’s Department of Building and Housing Development to provide lead prevention and healthy homes activities on 480 units within Harrisburg’s Opportunity Zones.
Harrisburg also announced that its leaf collection began on Tuesday and will continue through Dec. 1.
To have their leaves collected, residents should put leaves in brown paper bags and leave them curbside the night before street sweeping. Alternatively, residents can pile leaves into streets the night before street sweeping, but should be careful not to block storm drains, the city said.
