The state today submitted a petition to end Harrisburg’s 26-month-old receivership, stating that “critical components” of the city’s financial recovery plan had been completed.
If approved by the Commonwealth Court, the receivership would conclude on March 1, concurrent with the end of the state-declared “fiscal emergency” for the city. At that time, an Act 47 coordinator would replace the receiver to oversee and help guide implementation of the rest of the Harrisburg Strong Plan.
Just last November, the receiver’s term was extended for two years.
“The receiver is no longer vital and necessary to successful implementation of the remaining components of the Harrisburg Strong Plan in the absence of a fiscal emergency, and the remaining components of the plan can be successfully implemented by a coordinator appointed by the secretary (of DCED),” according to the petition by C. Alan Walker, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
While most of the plan has been implemented—including the sale of the incinerator and the long-term lease of the city’s parking assets—a few parts remain unresolved, such as a new labor agreement with the city’s firefighters’ union.
The state imposed receivership on Harrisburg in November 2011 after the city could not reach an agreement to resolve its financial crisis. Bond lawyer David Unkovic served several months in the post, drafting the initial recovery plan.
After Unkovic resigned, Air Force Maj. Gen. William Lynch took over as receiver, overseeing the creation of the final recovery plan and its implementation to date.
Read the entire petition from Walker to Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter: ReceivershipPetition.
