Something very important happened in our political system recently in Harrisburg.
Led by receiver Bill Lynch, officials across the political spectrum came together to solve a very difficult fiscal problem for the city. In doing so, they demonstrated that our political system still works and that seemingly intractable problems can be solved through hard work, persistence and a willingness to trust and cooperate—the essence of leadership. This is the best that we can ask from any of our elected and unelected public officials.
Hard as it may be to believe on the surface, Democratic Mayor Thompson worked cooperatively with Republican Gov. Corbett and a bi-partisan team of Dauphin County commissioners to put together a negotiated plan to solve the Harrisburg debt crisis while avoiding the crushing prospect of bankruptcy, which the City Council then reviewed and voted to approve. All of those leaders deserve our thanks and appreciation.
Is the plan perfect? Of course not. By its very nature, a negotiated solution will leave every party wanting, as is the case with this plan. All parties are taking a “haircut,” so to speak, to make the deal work. No doubt there is shared pain required by the city’s residents. The extension of the 1 percent increase in the EIT will cost the median family making $30,000 a year an extra $300 annually. However, if a tax increase had to happen, which under any scenario it certainly would, this is the fairest tax and far preferable to any increase in already high real estate taxes.
But look at what also happened: The bond insurance company (AGM) took an $89 million haircut, as it should have. And the commonwealth will have to contribute $5 million a year to the city budget (which it will be under tremendous pressure to continue) and has helped to guarantee the parking revenue and price for the sale of the incinerator. Yes, parking rates will go up about 15 percent (or $23 per month for a space in a public garage), but even this is a good thing from the perspective of Harrisburg citizens. This is one of the few ways that we have to raise money from people who do not actually live in our town (in other words, a commuter tax). A few more people may carpool or take the bus instead—for the sake of the environment, I hope so—but the rest will pay their small part.
Despite this favorable progress, not all city leaders are willing to demonstrate the spirit of good faith, cooperation and optimism required to get things like this done. An example is the recent presentation by Controller Dan Miller during City Council’s public hearing on the Harrisburg Strong Plan, in which he called on council members to reject the plan and opt instead for…what exactly? Putting aside for the moment that many of Miller’s facts and assumptions were simply wrong (as pointed out by several stakeholders and officials in attendance at the meeting), Miller failed to offer any explanation for how rejecting the plan, and all the uncertainty and costs associated with it, will somehow result in a better outcome for the city’s residents. Even City Council’s own independent review by Alvarez & Marsal, which Miller had previously recommended, indicated that the Harrisburg Strong Plan was the most promising option available for the city.
As much as Miller wishes it were so, we are not Detroit, and we are not going bankrupt if this plan is carried through as proposed. The only thing that further delay and dithering will do (after four long years) is cost the city’s residents more money while preserving Miller’s central campaign theme of bankruptcy. While Miller may want that in order to somehow prove he was “right,” the rest of us should reject it wholeheartedly, as our City Council did with its votes in support of the plan. For that, our council should be applauded for exhibiting tremendous leadership in the face of complex and difficult proceedings.
Let’s follow the receiver’s, the mayor’s and council’s lead and continue to move Harrisburg forward and not waste one more day or one more dollar of our citizen’s hard-earned money on politically motivated attempts at delay and obfuscation. There are many more issues the city has to deal with, including finding ways to attract more residents and businesses so that we can turn our city around and begin to grow our population base. Issues of safety, economic competitiveness, infrastructure and schools are high on the list of our problems to solve, but we can solve them if we finally get this crisis behind us.
Nearly 100,000 people lived in Harrisburg a half-century ago, almost twice as many as today. However, if we get back to work and focus on growth and opportunity for jobs, housing and investment, I believe that Harrisburg has the potential to rediscover its former glory and rightful spot as a leading capital city.
J. Alex Hartzler is publisher of TheBurg.
