School Tax Unchanged
The Harrisburg school board last month kept the school portion of the local property tax unchanged, as it reported a rare budget surplus.
The board unanimously passed a $133 million budget for the 2014-15 school year that retains the tax rate at 27.92 mills. School property tax bills will go out this month.
Recently, school property taxes have increased each year, as the board has struggled with recurring budget deficits. However, Gene Veno, the district’s chief recovery officer, announced last year that a financial analysis had discovered an unexpected surplus of about $12 million.
In addition, the board announced last month that it would reinstitute full-day kindergarten for the coming school year. Two years ago, kindergarten was cut to half-day after being threatened with elimination entirely.
The board also reappointed school Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney to another four-year term. Her base salary will remain unchanged at $160,000 per year.
Lastly, the board unanimously denied the revised application of Key Charter School, which had hoped to open in the former site of Bishop McDevitt High School at 2200 Market St. in Harrisburg. The board cited numerous deficiencies in the application in such areas as curriculum, student assessment and staff training.
Zoning Code Effort Revived
Harrisburg has revived a long-dormant effort to re-haul its aged zoning code, with a City Council vote expected early this month.
Council last month began discussing the code in a committee meeting, after which two public input sessions were held. A final vote on the new code is slated for the July 8 legislative session.
The effort to revamp the city’s zoning code began about five years ago to try to streamline and simplify a code that had become overly complex and even obsolete, according to the city. Over the years, the code, originally passed in 1950, had grown to include 27 base zoning districts and six overlay districts. The new code includes just nine base districts and four overlay districts.
After a year of work by Harrisburg’s planning bureau, City Council introduced the new code in 2010, but never acted on it. The code, with just a few adjustments, now has been reintroduced as the 2014 Zoning Code draft.
In a separate effort, Harrisburg also is in the process of developing a comprehensive plan for the city.
Task Force Meets
The Harrisburg Strong Task Force has held two meetings so the public could comment on a future nonprofit that will decide how to spend the city’s dedicated infrastructure and economic development funds.
The 10-member task force met twice at the Greater Harrisburg Area YWCA, briefing the public on its mission and asking for input. Ideas from the audience ranged from fixing sinkholes to fighting blight to helping employ youth.
The task force now will draft a governance structure and action plan that will guide the work of a future non-profit corporation that will disburse money earmarked exclusively for improving Harrisburg’s infrastructure and boosting its economic development efforts.
The Harrisburg Strong financial recovery plan created two funding silos, each for $6 million, for these two purposes. The future nonprofit will allocate money after judging the worthiness of projects and their ability to raise matching funds.
311 Number Confirmed
Harrisburg is on track to have a new 311 information system for non-emergency government services, thanks to the state Public Utility Commission’s approval of a city petition to administer the three-digit dialing code.
The 311 code, which will be restricted to Harrisburg residents, will connect callers to a centralized, automated directory of city services. Under the existing system, residents either would need to look up the numbers of individual city departments or, as often happened, would simply dial 911 with non-emergency calls, tying up the county’s dispatchers.
Mayor Eric Papenfuse recommended the adoption of a 311 system during his campaign for office last year. In March, the city submitted a petition to the PUC, which announced its approval following a 5-0 vote by its commissioners.
Papenfuse added that certain infrastructure upgrades necessary for running the system were well underway. In the next few months, the city expects to replace its phone system with one that will be able to accommodate 311 calls.
Summer in the City
The Dauphin County regional tourism bureau has budgeted close to $100,000 for Harrisburg’s “Summer in the City” promotional campaign, an effort to market the city’s summer cultural offerings on billboards, buses and the Web, city officials announced Friday.
The campaign highlights such events as the “Harrisburg Independence Weekend Walkaround,” a three-day program of festivities scheduled for the July 4 weekend. The full program, which can be viewed at Stayandplayhbg.com, includes free concerts in city parks, “family fun” festivals, a martial arts tournament and a reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The campaign will be promoted on area billboards as well as on each bus in Capital Area Transit’s 80-bus fleet. The Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau hired Top Flight Media, an advertising agency headquartered on Lindle Road in Swatara Township, to design the campaign.
Funding for the marketing campaign comes from the county’s hotel tax, a levy on overnight lodging that was raised from 3 percent to 5 percent in 2008. According to county ordinance, a portion of hotel tax revenues—about 13 percent—is to be spent on “appropriate and reasonable marketing and promotional expenses” for tourism in Harrisburg.
New Manager for Market
The Broad Street Market last month hired Ashlee O. Dugan, a member of the market corporation’s board and the founder of a local food-recovery organization, as its newest full-time interim manager.
She replaced Len Cobosco from the Camp Hill accounting firm Carey Associates, who came on as an interim manager in June 2013. Cobosco will remain employed by the market as a part-time financial manager, board members confirmed.
Officially, the position is transitional, since the market’s operations and organizational structure are still under review by the Broad Street Market Task Force. The market may open the search for a permanent manager again following the task force’s recommendations, Dugan said.
Amy Hill, a volunteer board member doing public relations outreach for the market, noted that Dugan has a “legacy connection” to the market. Dugan’s great-grandfather, Gilbert S. Miller, operated a butcher stand at the market from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.
Previously, Dugan served as a membership and marketing coordinator at the Pennsylvania Downtown Center. She also is the founder of The Greenhouse, an organization with the goal of locating and saving food that might otherwise go to waste.
The Broad Street Market has gone through numerous managers over the past few years. For more about its history and the efforts of the task force, read our feature in the April issue (“A Simple Plan,” p.14).
Fire Bureau Gets FEMA Grant
The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire last month received a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant of $114,840.
The grant will provide for advanced training and education of firefighters and fire officers in the bureau, said Acting Chief Brian Enterline.
“This grant was successfully obtained due to the collaboration and dedication of the city’s grants manager and some young brilliant firefighters and fire officers that are eager to rebuild the Bureau of Fire,” Enterline said.
He added that, over the coming year, firefighters and fire officers will attend classes that offer training and education in areas such as technical rescue, nationally certified fire officer and firefighter safety.
“These classes are essential for keeping our firefighters safe and expanding their knowledge in many aspects of firefighting,” Enterline stated.
The primary goal of the grant is to meet the emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations. Since 2001, the grant has helped firefighters and other first responders obtain needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources to help protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.
Changing Hands
Adrian St., 2474: M. & B. Sumy to M. Jones, $58,000
Allison Ct., 6: T. Pham to 2013 M&M Real Estate Fund LLC, $38,000
Benton St., 600: A. Allegrini c/o J. Chubb to T. Griffin, $114,900
Benton St., 631: Fannie Mae to PA Deals LLC, $50,000
Berryhill St., 2306: T. Vo to Jiang Brothers Realty LLC, $40,000
Berryhill St., 2321: R. & L. Mason to L. Chen, $270,000
Berryhill St., 2437: J. Howarth to C. Still, $54,000
Briggs St., 231: J. Theurer et al to C. Natcher & J. McCadney, $92,500
Brook St., 346: Kirsch & Burns LLC to LMK Properties LLC, $31,200
Chestnut St., 2114: T. Cubitt to S. Felmlee & R. Church, $169,000
Duke St., 2433: P. Bui to 2013 Central PA Real Estate Fund LLC, $45,000
Duke St., 2622: PI Capitol LLC & J. Pierce to J. Conjar, $116,000
Forster St., 123: M. Warden to Heit Holdings LLC, $345,000
Forster St., 1815: Trusted Source Capital LLC to Blackscotch LLC, $30,000
Fulton St., 1705: Cartus Financial Corp. to R. Dickinson, $125,000
Green St., 1400: T. Wiestling to P. Misivich, $119,000
Green St., 1928: R. Riley & K. Stutzman to M. & S. Young, $205,000
Green St., 2223: C. Barner to J. & B. Readinger, $50,000
Harris St., 212: E. McKee to R. Evanchak, $136,000
Herr St., 1933: J. Kim to Bajwa & Rana LLC, $250,000
Hoffman St., 3100: B. Cates to A. Bhatti, $154,900
Hummel St., 203: Vitosh Investment Group LLC to Brethren Housing Assoc., $73,000
Kelker St., 218: Integrity Bank to C. Proctor & J. Mesa Cruz, $114,500
Kensington St., 2364: PA Deals LLC to M. & D. Graeff, $68,000
Kensington St., 2422: L. Schroeder to PA Deals LLC, $43,500
Locust St., 110 & 112: Mid Penn Bank to Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, $140,000
Midland Rd., 2401: D. Hollinger to J. & L. Arnold, $155,000
N. 2nd St., 2437: D. Powell to C. Dove, $41,500
N. 4th St., 2144: Kirsch & Burns LLC to LMK Properties LLC, $33,967
N. 14th St., 322: D. Boyle to G. Lopez Figueroa, $30,000
N. 18th St., 800, 1716 North St., 1717 North St., 1820 North St., 1913 Forster St. & 1915 Briggs St.: Shokes Enterprises LLC to JDP 2014 LLC, $499,000
N. Front St., 17: Association of County Commissioners to Harrisburg Building & Grounds Co., $525,000
Reily St., 219: PA Deals LLC to S. Briffa, $109,900
Royal Terr., 135: PA Deals LLC to S. Maurer, $38,500
S. 14th St., 400: J. Rodriguez to R. Rodriguez, $40,000
S. 18th St., 31 & 33: N. Grove to Capital City Investment Properties LLC, $67,500
S. 25th St., 615: R. Pursel & Keystone Guardianship Services to 2013 Central PA Real Estate Fund LLC, $42,250
S. Cameron St., 443: P. Dobson to F. & D. Miller, $100,000
S. Cameron St., 1607: J. & R. Mallonee to I. Claytor, $61,900
S. Cameron St., 1660: Bemar Enterprises to D&F Complex on Cameron LP, $281,000
State St., 1935 & 1937 State St.: W. Kyles to C. Johnson, $112,000
Susquehanna St., 2142: FTM Properties LLC to A. Moore, $88,000
Verbeke St., 112: Random Properties Acquisition Corp. III to PA Deals LLC, $46,250
Verbeke St., 340: 44 Breed Street Nominee Trust & F. Ciccone to Historic Holdings LLC, $380,000
Vernon St., 1553: D. Boyle to J. Rodriguez, $30,000
Washington St., 111: Sirva Relocation Credit LLC to C. Altman, $129,000
Harrisburg property sales for May 2014, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.
