News

June 16, 2008

Cities in area may get boost financially

Bill would invest $100 million per year over 5 years in small Pennsylvania cities.

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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A western Pennsylvania state senator has proposed a $500 million investment plan that would help the state’s small cities combat blight, improve infrastructure and purchase public-safety equipment.

If co-sponsors are found and the planned legislation successfully makes its way through the system, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Nanticoke, Pittston and Scranton would be among the beneficiaries.

Sen. John Wozniak, D-Johnstown, announced his plan last week. He said he wants to introduce the measure this week in hopes of helping cities that have “borne the brunt of economic dislocation and weathered fiscal storms that have brewed for decades.”

Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton said he reviewed the proposal and is anxious to learn more about the details.

“Naturally I would support anything that would help Wilkes-Barre and the surrounding communities,” the mayor said.

Dubbed the “Renaissance Cities” plan, the idea is to invest $100 million per year over five years in the state’s third-class cities and Scranton, the state’s only second-class “A” city. More than 50 cities would qualify under those terms.

Wozniak said he is hopeful the General Assembly and governor will find the resources necessary to address these problems this year, before the condition of Pennsylvania cities worsens.

“It is time that we have a frank and forthright discussion about what we can do and what is within our means to address the problems facing small cities,” Wozniak said.

Wozniak said a $500 million discretionary fund in the budget, used for special interests groups in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties, could be tapped into as a source of funding for his program.

The pitch addresses city problems such as abandoned property, blight and absentee ownership, along with pension and debt service issues. Though Leighton said Wilkes-Barre officials have been addressing these problems in recent years, funding sources are stretched and any infusion of funds would be appreciated.

“We cannot continue to allow Pennsylvania’s small urban areas to falter,” Wozniak said. “Most of these cities simply do not have the financial means to combat the social issues that confront them and, as a result, they face impossible choices each year.”

Kenneth Johnson, city administrator for Nanticoke, said he could see opposition from senators representing rural parts of the state that don’t have cities. Past attempts at helping the state’s older, struggling cities have been proposed, but have not made much progress.

House Bill 2018, which is in the House Appropriations Committee, was the focus of hearings earlier this year, including one in Wilkes-Barre. That bill proposes using money collected from the Johnstown Flood Tax to help cities deal with many of the problems Wozniak’s proposal addresses.

The flood tax is an 18-percent levy on all liquor sold in the state and brings in about $240 million annually. The main difference between the proposals is that Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and county seats that are boroughs, not cities, also could have tapped into the pot.

Not so in Wozniak’s bill.

Brian Grove, a spokesman for state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, said the goal of the proposal is worthy but his boss has two major issues with the idea: Funding and the absence of boroughs and townships in the discussion.

“Right now there’s not enough revenue coming in to fund everything in the budget that’s being considered – school funding, health care, transportation and energy,” Grove said.

Grove pointed out that Baker serves residents in six counties, none of whom live in a city. He said that boroughs and townships are facing similar issues burdening cities.

“Boroughs and townships are already at a disadvantage. She’d have a problem supporting anything that leaves them out. There’s a whole piece of Pennsylvania that’s ignored under it (the proposal),” Grover said.

Wozniak said there’s always going to be groups unhappy and asking for more money, but he believes that by helping the small cities, the surrounding boroughs and townships will benefit.

He said he is introducing the legislation now, up against a budget deadline, to put the troubles of small cities in front of lawmakers. He also said he’s “not optimistic” that it will get much traction during budget season.

“We have been told that this is a tight budget and that we must prioritize spending,” Wozniak said. “While I understand the need for constraint, we have to begin to focus on the problems plaguing small cities and have an honest dialogue about how we can help them out of fiscal despair.”

He crafted his plan after reviewing the results of a needs survey that he sent to mayors last October.

Leighton said that while he isn’t counting on the state to take action so soon, he’s thankful Wozniak is focusing on the issue.

“It’s obviously in the very preliminary stages, but that’s how things get done. They first have to be brought to the table,” Leighton said.

Hazleton City Administrator Sam Monticello also lauded the proposal.

“Sen. Wozniak has demonstrated great foresight by proposing his Renaissance Cities Plan, which appears, at least preliminarily, to be an extremely sensible approach by state government to assist cities … to address readily identifiable problems with an injection of funding over an extended period of years,” Monticello said.

Monticello touched on the funding targets, saying Hazleton has issues with each of them.

“Quite frankly, without a legislative package such as that proposed by the senator, many municipalities such as Hazleton would not have the wherewithal to address and remediate common problems associated with public safety, debt on pension and retirement benefits, slum and blight, and municipal services to name a few, due to financial constraints and otherwise, limited funding opportunities,” he said.

The five-year plan:

• Year 1, public safety: Funding may be used to purchase law enforcement equipment, create crime prevention programs, buy firefighting apparatus or any other initiative that protects health and safety of residents.

• Year 2, blight removal: Includes the clearance, demolition or removal of blighted areas, acquisition of blighted property, aggressive code enforcement or other blight prevention activities.

• Year 3, economic development and housing: Funds would be split between housing initiatives that provide direct home ownership assistance and rehabilitation assistance for owner-occupied properties and business initiatives such as environmental assessments, installation of infrastructure and site preparation.

• Year 4, municipal services: Includes funding for public buildings, paving streets, repairing bridges, sidewalks and purchasing public works vehicles as well as encouraging service consolidations with surrounding communities.

• Year 5, pension and debt: Funding is targeted as an offset for unfunded accrued pension liabilities, debt service and other financial obligations.

Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7269.

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