Dauphin County passes budget with tax increase for second year in a row

December 17, 2025 | by Alexandra Jones

From left: Dauphin County commissioners George Hartwick, Justin Douglas and Mike Pries at Wednesday’s commissioners meeting.

Dauphin County approved its 2026 budget on Monday that includes a property tax increase for the second year in a row.

By a 2-1 vote, the county commissioners passed a $221.9 million general fund budget, which includes a 9.75% property tax hike. The tax increase is lower than the 15% hike initially included in the county’s proposed budget, which was introduced last month.

The spending plan marks a $172,671 decrease from 2025’s budget of $222 million. It includes no new full-time positions, a 2.95% cost-of-living-adjustment for union employees and a $2 million vacancy adjustment.

Commissioner Mike Pries was the sole “no” vote on the budget Wednesday. He told TheBurg this was due to the tax increase.

“We were told there’d be no tax increase for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Last year, the county increased its property taxes for the first time in roughly two decades with a 21.8% hike. Commissioner George Hartwick had said at the time that the county hoped not to raise taxes again in the following year.

At the meeting, Budget and Finance Director Chris Davis said that county departments originally asked for $232 million for next year. This would have required a tax hike of more than 25% to close, he said.

Hartwick said that he, Chief Clerk Eric Hagarty, and Davis then met with every county department, scrutinized each request, and evaluated the county’s needs versus the county’s wants. The final budget was a result of department negotiations, spending reductions, debt restructuring, vacancy adjustments, and the strategic use of one-time funds, Hartwick said.

“The revised budget reduces the overall cost of county government in 2026 compared to 2025, despite continued inflationary pressures and rising healthcare costs,” Davis told the commissioners.

Hartwick noted that the board also reduced the commissioner’s budget by 11%.

“What deserves emphasis is not just where this budget landed, but how far it moved,” he said.

Commission Chairman Justin Douglas also applauded the reductions that led to “a single-digit increase” in property taxes.

“This is a balanced budget. It cuts costs, it protects jobs, it protects a cost of living increase,” Douglas said.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s something that I think we’re proud of,” he added.

The county projects to end 2026 with a general fund balance of $13.9 million.

Even with the double-digit tax hike for 2025, Hartwick said that the county is projected to have just 24 days of cash on hand at the end of 2025, which is “well below recommended levels.”

At Wednesday’s meeting, Hartwick said that 50 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are facing significant fiscal stress and that many are preparing for substantial tax increases.

The commissioner, who has served since 2004, also defended the board’s “deliberate decision” not to raise property taxes between 2007 and 2025.

“Had revenue merely kept pace with inflation, the county would have collected $202 million more since 2007. Had it kept pace with average salary growth, that gap would have exceeded $336 million,” he said. Pries and Douglas were elected in 2010 and 2023, respectively.

Hartwick noted that the cost of delivering county services, human services, corrections, public safety, elections in the courts has consistently exceeded inflation due to rising demand and unfunded mandates.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to reshape what local government looks like in a post pandemic environment, especially as state and federal partnerships continue to do less and require local governments to do more,” Hartwick said.

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Sweet T & Greens to open in old Home 231 space, will serve “upscale comfort food”

December 16, 2025 | by Alexandra Jones

Geno Goodman will own and operate Sweet T and Greens out of the old Home 231 space with his wife, Erin.

Husband and wife team Geno and Erin Goodman are moving their Hershey-based market stand Sweet T & Greens to downtown Harrisburg, where it will become a sit-down restaurant.

After three years cooking out of a stand at Fresh Market, the Lower Paxton-based couple plans to bring “upscale comfort food” to 231 North St., formerly Home 231, in mid-January.

“This feels more like home. It just feels like this is where we should be,” said Geno.

The restaurant will be open six days a week, excluding Monday, and the menu will feature steaks, burgers, ribs and crab cakes as well as options for vegetarians and vegans. It will be BYOB.

Their food stand in Hershey has been purchased by another vendor and will change hands as the couple expands to a full restaurant.

“We wanted to absolutely put our full attention into this,” Geno said. “This is definitely a different venture for us.”

A former bar manager at the now-closed Midtown Ted’s Bar & Grill, Geno is enthusiastic about returning to work in the city. He said he and his wife are looking forward to building a rapport with the Harrisburg community.

“We really want to take that serious. We want no stone unturned. We really want to pay attention to what’s going on here,” he said.

According to Geno, the southern-inspired menu at Sweet T & Greens includes foods he and his wife grew up eating.

“A lot of the recipes come from Erin’s family. Her grandparents had a diner growing up, so she really grew up in the restaurant industry,” Geno explained. “But I’m from the South, so you got to know how to cook when you from the South.”

Originally from Smithfield, Va., Geno remembers big family meals growing up with pigs’ feet, Haul Maul, chitlins, sweet potatoes and collard greens. When he was 14 years old, he entered the restaurant industry as a busboy at Smithfield Station, an upscale seafood place.

Erin, meanwhile, grew up on a 120-acre farm in Juniata County where making food from scratch was the norm. Erin’s parents and brother raise and slaughter their own pigs for food to this day, although Erin, now a pescatarian, “is not really big into the slaughtering side of it,” according to Geno.

The pair met in 2009 while working at Ruby Tuesdays—Erin as the bar manager, Geno as bartender. They were in their mid-20s, and Geno had just moved to Harrisburg to serve as running back for the professional indoor football team, the Harrisburg Stampede. He recalled working at the restaurant as a second job.

“She’s a hardcore manager, so I felt like it was good to get in her good graces, and then it just ended up blossoming to something great,” said Geno.

While the pair doesn’t have any kids together, Geno said, “we do have three children that pretty much grew up together.”

Their children—the oldest and youngest his and the middle one hers—are now 21, 19, and 15 years old.

Whether with their family or friends, Geno said the pair enjoys hosting cookouts and gatherings with plenty of “good food” and that ultimately, Sweet T & Greens is an extension of that.

“It just kind of went hand in hand,” he said.

Sweet T and Greens will be located at 231 North St. in Harrisburg.

For more information about Sweet T & Greens, visit its website.

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Governor says Harrisburg has “got to get moving” on Broad Street Market rebuild

December 16, 2025 | by Maddie Gittens

Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke during a press conference at Harrisburg’s Fire Station 1 on Tuesday.

Pennsylvania’s governor has weighed in on the reconstruction of the Broad Street Market.

During a press conference in Uptown Harrisburg on Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Josh Shapiro said that local officials needed to “get their act together” and rebuild the market.

Shapiro’s statements were in response to a reporter’s question about the progress at the market, during a press conference highlighting increased state funding for the fire bureau.

“The local folks need to get their act together and rebuild this thing already,” he said. “We’re committed to putting real resources in from a capital perspective. I frankly have been frustrated by how long it’s taken. We’ve let local leaders know that.”

Construction on the brick building, severely damaged in a July 2023 fire, began this fall. On Monday, the city confirmed that a section of the building’s wall, near the Millworks, had collapsed. City officials said that they were meeting to evaluate the damage and make a plan for moving forward.

Shapiro said he had heard about the collapse.

“This is a critically important place for the community, symbolically and also just where people go to get their fresh groceries and gather as a community,” he said. “I want to see them rebuild it and we’re committed to pulling real capital dollars in. They’ve got to get moving here already.”

The state awarded the Broad Street Market $500,000 in May for improvements to the stone market building, a second market house that mostly includes prepared food vendors and was not damaged in the blaze. The fire-ravaged brick building housed mostly fresh food vendors, some of whom have moved temporarily to a tent across the street.

Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams was in attendance at Monday’s press conference, but had left before Shapiro’s comments on the market.

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Gov. Shapiro recognizes Harrisburg Fire Bureau, highlights $2 million boost to city funding

December 16, 2025 | by Maddie Gittens

Gov. Josh Shapiro joined members of the Harrisburg Fire Bureau and local officials on Tuesday for a press conference at Fire Station 1 on N. 6th Street.

Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the Harrisburg Fire Bureau to recognize their critical role in the arson fire at his home, while presenting a multi-million-dollar boost to city funding.

Shapiro joined local officials at a press conference on Tuesday to celebrate the significantly increased state fire protection allocation to the city, in the wake of the arson attack on the Governor’s Residence in April.

As part of the 2025-2026 state budget, Harrisburg was awarded $7 million for its fire protection fund, a $2 million jump from the previous year’s allotment.

According to Enterline, the city had not received an increase in this funding in 10 years.

Shapiro said that Enterline had been pushing for the funding hike.

“My interactions with the chief dated back to July of 2023,” Shapiro said. “He put me in the cherry picker, and we went up […] the chief kept going higher and higher and higher and he had me in this little cage about 10 billion feet up in the air and he said, ‘Hey while I have you gov, let me talk to you a little bit about the funding needs we have.’”

However, Shapiro said that, after his family’s experience with the bureau during the April arson fire at their residence in Uptown Harrisburg, the funding need became more urgent to him.

“I knew that Harrisburg had a unique need, as the chief told me when we were up in the cherry picker, and I think the attack on our family just kind of crystallized the need of urgency to get it done now,” he said.

Enterline said the extra money, which is included in Harrisburg’s 2026 budget that passed on Monday, will help with both short-term financial needs and long-term planning.

“This additional funding is crucial, preliminarily helping to defray the persistent inflationary costs that affect our bureau every year,” Enterline said. “More strategically, this investment positions us to initiate critical long-term initiatives.”

Shapiro said the raise represents a new funding floor for the city’s fire bureau to bolster the department’s efforts.

“Today would not be possible had it not been for the bipartisan support of the House, the Senate, the governor and his great team,” Enterline said. “This public demands and deserves a well-staffed, well-equipped fire department that is ready to respond to any emergency at any time, at a moment’s notice.”

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Council passes 2026 budget, but denies raises for elected officials and defunds top positions

December 15, 2025 | by Maddie Gittens

Harrisburg City Council on Monday night

Harrisburg City Council approved a 2026 city budget while zeroing out top officials’ salaries, denying raises and highlighting the deep divide between council and the mayor.

At a meeting Monday night, council passed the $88 million general fund budget, rejecting a proposal by Mayor Wanda Williams to raise her and other elected officials’ salaries and eliminating other staff’s salaries.

The budget does not include a property tax increase.

Most of the budget discussions and changes on Monday centered around salaries and council’s dissatisfaction with the work of several staff and elected officials.

Previously, the administration proposed a $20,000 raise to the mayor’s current $80,000 salary, along with raises for council, controller and treasurer. Each would have received a raise at the start of their next term, a legal requirement. However, council voted against the raises by a vote of 5-2, with council members Crystal Davis and Ausha Green voting in favor.

“I can count the number of times Mayor Williams called this council incompetent under my leadership, and she wants a raise? No,” said council President Danielle Hill. “I feel very strongly that instead of a raise, the mayor, her administration and Harrisburg City Council should focus their energy on the number of issues present within our city.”

Additional council members said that they voted ‘no’ based on input from residents and a desire to see the money go to what they believed were more pressing needs.

The other major changes to the budget included council completely eliminating salaries for the city’s interim business administrator, project director for business administration/LERTA and the police bureau’s director of community engagement and relations. Council also zeroed out the city’s portion of the salary for the interim director of building and housing development, which supplements the portion of the salary funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Council members decided to defund the business administrator, Sam Sulkosky, and director of building and housing, Gloria Martin-Roberts, mainly because they had been serving in interim positions without council approval.

Sulkosky was appointed in October 2024, but council voted against approving him in his role in February, citing concerns with his employment history. Since then, he has continued serving, now as an interim director.

Martin-Roberts was appointed by the mayor in 2024 as an interim director after the previous building and housing director left.

“The process isn’t fair,” council member Lamont Jones said. “This is personal that our residents get what they deserve. When you’re in a position of leadership you have to be held accountable.”

Council removed funding for the project director for business administration/LERTA, explaining that they were unhappy with the lack of work being done, specifically around an economic development plan for the city. When it came to the police position, council members said they believed the position was redundant.

Council also made a motion to remove funds for the director of equity and compliance, citing dissatisfaction with the role, but the motion failed.

“I’m not quite sure where it would go from there because then it starts pulling apart the city code, for example, with the business administrator, what do you do because they have statutory duties,” said City Solicitor Neil Grover. “By defunding it, you are basically eliminating the position. But frankly, I don’t know why anybody’s going to apply to my office or any other office if the city of Harrisburg and the council defunds positions of existing employees.”

Sulkosky shared his reaction to the decision with TheBurg as well.

“I just think it was a short-sighted effort for council, not the entire council, but a small majority to micromanage what the mayor does, which I think is highly inappropriate,” Sulkosky said. “It does not help the city of Harrisburg at all.”

When speaking with TheBurg, Hill stressed that the position had been defunded, not eliminated, but was unsure what that would mean for the role moving forward.

“I don’t know the mechanics of it. We are not involved in the hiring process so I can’t speak to that,” she said. ”I really can’t speak to what happens next.”

Council passed the 2026 budget with a vote of 6-1, with council member Shamaine Daniels voting no.

The total proposed budget, including the capital projects fund, state liquid fuels fund and neighborhood services fund, among others, is $127.3 million.

City Accounting Manager Brian McCutcheon also shared the projected end of year cash fund balance, which would likely be $21 million in the general fund reserves and $5.5 million in the neighborhood services fund reserves by the end of this month.

According to council’s clerks, the mayor has 10 days to return council a signed budget, making the deadline Dec. 26. Williams does have the power to veto the budget or specific line items. Council would likely then return for a session on Dec. 30 or 31 to reconsider the budget, the assistant clerk said. A vote of five or more council members would be needed to overturn the mayor’s veto.

The meeting showcased the divide between council and the mayor. Three council members revealed that they believed their cell phones were blocked by Williams, meaning that she could call them, but they were automatically sent to voicemail.

They also said that department directors and staff had been banned from communicating with them.

“It is not us,” Hill said. “We are here. We try to communicate. But if you’re blocked on someone’s phone and that’s the method of communication, what do you do?”

Sulkosky said that the mayor has an open-door policy and has invited the council president to meet her.

“She’s blaming the mayor for not communicating, but I would say that’s a two-way street,” he said.

Also on Monday, council approved a land development plan by Harristown Development Corp. to renovate 333 Market Street, a 22-story building downtown that previously housed state government offices. Harristown will renovate floors 11 through 19 and create 81 one- and two-bedroom apartments, which it intends to use for senior housing. The company is currently in search of an organization to master lease the apartments.

At a previous meeting, council voted the plan down in a tied vote, before deciding to bring the resolution back up for reconsideration and tabling it.

Council ended up passing the development plan with a vote of 5-2. Council President Danielle Hill and council member Crystal Davis voted ‘no.’

“My concern lies with the lack of information regarding the third party that will be involved,” Hill said.

Council on Monday also voted to extend the city’s lease agreement with the Broad Street Market Alliance for another year. The city and market have been operating on a month-to-month lease since its current lease expired in 2021. The approved extension was initiated because the market is required to have an up-to-date lease for state funding it was awarded.

In other news, council voted to extend the city’s LERTA program, which provides tax break incentives to developers. City officials have said that they drafted a new, updated LERTA bill, but are waiting for the Harrisburg School District to review it.

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Santa arrives to visit children at UPMC via MedEvac chopper

December 15, 2025 | by Alexandra Jones

Santa Claus arrived Monday to visit children at UPMC Harrisburg ahead of Christmas Day.

Leaving his reindeer and sleigh behind at the North Pole, Santa Claus arrived via Stat MedEvac helicopter Monday to visit pediatric patients at UPMC Harrisburg.

“This is one of our favorite traditions at UPMC,” said the hospital’s president Elizabeth Ritter, who added that the hospital has been bringing in Santa in the weeks before Christmas for years.

With a sack full of toys, Santa paid personal visits to children in the hospital’s pediatric unit and emergency department ahead of Christmas Day.

“We pray that every one of them is better,” Santa said. “We pray that they’re able to enjoy Christmas at home next year.”

Kami Huynh, of Linglestown, has been in the hospital for 10 days with her 6-month-old son, Kai. She emphasized seeing Santa raised her family’s spirits as her son receives treatment for botulism, contracted from an unknown source.

“I can’t believe he came all the way down here from the North Pole,” Huynh said.

Santa stopped by Kai’s room to gift him a stuffed animal.

“Now he can cuddle his little stuffy in his bed while he gets better,” his mother said.

Santa also thanked the doctors and nurses for their work helping the sick children before leaving the pediatric floor.

Santa gifts a stuffed toy duck to Julien, a patient in the pediatric unit at UPMC Harrisburg.

To learn more about UPMC Harrisburg, visit its website.

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Wall of Broad Street Market’s brick building collapsed, officials assessing incident

December 15, 2025 | by Maddie Gittens

A wall of the Broad Street Market’s brick building collapsed Monday.

A wall of the Broad Street Market’s brick building collapsed Monday morning.

A portion of the building, which is currently under construction following a devastating July 2023 fire, crumbled leaving a pile of bricks on the side closest to the Millworks.

Harrisburg Communications Director Mischelle Moyer confirmed that the wall fell, but no one was injured. She said that Mayor Wanda Williams and officials are meeting to assess the situation, saying that “it proved the building to be unstable.”

“At this time, structural engineers and architects are on site and beginning a comprehensive assessment of the damage to the building, as well as the potential impact on the overall restoration project,” Moyer said. “This evaluation process will take several days to complete to ensure accuracy and safety.”

Moyer said that the city will share more information and updates as they are available.

“We ask for patience and understanding as the professionals carefully evaluate the situation,” she said. “The historic Broad Street Market is a treasured landmark, and this work will be approached with the diligence, care, and prominence it deserves.”

The Historic Harrisburg Association released a statement on Monday as well.

“We were saddened to learn that a portion of its brick wall collapsed this morning,” the statement said. “Another setback is the last thing the market needs. But we are confident that it can be restored, as we have seen with other high-profile landmarks, such as the historic portion of Strawberry Square at Third and Market Streets whose brick walls were restored in the 1980s. Fortunately, Alexander Construction Management and the architect, Murphy & Dittenhafer, have outstanding historic preservation expertise. We are confident that this will be an award-winning restoration project.”

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

December 12, 2025 | by TheBurg Staff

Flights of red, white and blue milkshakes will be sold by the PA Dairymen’s Association at the Farm Show this year in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

Major headlines this week included Harrisburg City Council’s discussion of a raise for Mayor Wanda Williams and the PA Dairymen’s rollout of this year’s Farm Show milkshake flavors. Find those stories and more below:

Blacklisted Poets meets at HMAC every week to bring poetry to life with readings and has been doing so for 30-odd years, our online story reports.

Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors said that Harrisburg-area home sales and prices both rose in November, according to our online story.

Harrisburg City Council members debated giving Mayor Wanda Williams and other city officials a raise at a Tuesday night meeting. Read what happened in our online story.

Historic Harrisburg Association’s annual Candlelight House Tour will feature the Governor’s Residence, despite an arson attack that prompted extensive renovations, our online story reported.

Historic holiday events can be a fun way to celebrate the season around the city, our magazine story reports.

Police said a Greyhound passenger was killed by the bus he was riding in after jumping out of an emergency exit window during a psychological episode, our online story reported.

Pennsylvania Regional Ballet is making performances of the “Nutcracker” accessible for kids, our magazine story reports.

Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association announced it will celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a red, white and blue milkshake flight that will be available during the 2026 PA Farm Show, our online story reported.

Sara Bozich has a list of all the best events happening over the next few days in her Weekend Roundup.

Spectrum Spark Society, a nonprofit supporting those with autism spectrum disorder and their families, was profiled in our magazine story.

Susquehanna Chorale conductor Linda Tedford reflects on her last season leading the group’s Candlelight Christmas concert in our magazine story.

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Home sales, prices up in Harrisburg area in November, says new report

December 12, 2025 | by Lawrance Binda

A house for sale in Harrisburg

Harrisburg-area home sales and prices both rose in November, according to the latest report on previously owned houses.

For the three-county region, 502 homes sold, compared to 474 homes in November 2024, while the median sales price increased to $290,000 from $275,000, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors (GHAR).

In Dauphin County, 233 houses changed hands in November, versus 214 in the year-ago period, as the median sales price rose to $261,950 from $250,000, GHAR stated.

Cumberland County had 242 home sales compared to 240 the prior November, while the median sales price increased to $335,000 from $314,297, GHAR said.

In Perry County, 32 homes sold in November, versus 18 homes a year earlier, as the median sales price decreased to $214,000 from $237,500, according to GHAR.

The pace of homes sales slowed a bit in November, as “average days on market” rose to 32 days versus 28 days in November 2024, GHAR said.

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Governor’s Residence will remain on historic home tour, despite arson attack

December 11, 2025 | by Alexandra Jones

The Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence will be a stop on the Historic Harrisburg Association’s annual tour.

The Governor’s Residence will be a stop on an annual holiday home tour, despite an arson attack last April that prompted extensive renovations.

The Historic Harrisburg Association announced Wednesday that the residence, which has historically been included on the group’s annual Candlelight House Tour, will remain a stop this year, following “uncertainty as to its inclusion.”

In April, Penbrook resident Cody Balmer lit the mansion on fire. The arsonist firebombed the residence at 2 a.m., targeting Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had just celebrated the Passover holiday with his family. In October, Balmer was sentenced to more than two decades in prison for his crimes.

The self-guided tour offers attendees a chance to walk through a selection of historic homes in Harrisburg at their own pace, using a provided guidebook. The tour will take place Sunday, Dec. 14 between 1 and 6 p.m..

Launched in 1973, this marks the Association’s 52nd year hosting the event. HHA executive director David Morrison said the tour is “the oldest and biggest tour of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic region.”

For $20 in advance, or $30 day of, tickets can be purchased online or in-person at the Historic Harrisburg Resource Center.

The Historic Harrisburg Resource Center is located at 1230 N. 3rd St. in Harrisburg. For more information about HHA, visit its website.

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