Municipalities, school districts and other governmental entities in Pennsylvania may want to sell or lease their assets for a variety of reasons. Governmental entities facing financial distress may sell or lease assets to generate a substantial upfront payment that can be used for a variety of purposes, including paying down debts resulting from labor and
municipal law
Harrisburg Mayor Papenfuse to Seek Increase in Local Services Tax
By Tim Horstmann on
Posted in Municipal Law, Tax
Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced today that he would seek to raise the Local Services Tax (LST) for workers in Harrisburg from $52 to $156 per year. The move would affect both City residents and the tens of thousands of people that commute into the City every day to go to work. The preliminary revenue…
Governor Corbett’s Legacy: a new and improved Act 47?
By Tim Horstmann on
With relatively little fanfare last year, shortly before he was given an early retirement by the voters, Governor Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania signed into law Act 199, which amends the Commonwealth’s program for distress municipalities known as Act 47.
Act 199 makes numerous changes to municipal recovery in Pennsylvania. While most of the attention has…
Mayor Papenfuse to Propose New Harrisburg Tax Abatement Initiative
By Tim Horstmann on
Posted in Municipal Law, Tax
From the Patriot News, comes a story that Mayor Eric Papenfuse will be introducing a new 10-year tax abatement program for new residential and commercial construction throughout the City:
Under the proposal, owners of existing residential properties would not pay additional property taxes on any improvements for 10 years, no strings attached. …
The
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A Harrisburg LERTA – an Idea Worth Resurrecting?
By Tim Horstmann on
The Patriot News is reporting that the City will be holding a meeting tonight to discuss a possible new LERTA tax-abatement program in the City. LERTA (short for “Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act”) is a state law that permits local jurisdictions (counties, municipalities and school districts) to offer real estate tax incentives to spur…
Municipal Advisors and their Duties to Public Entity Clients
By Tim Horstmann on
Posted in Public Finance, Securities
The MSRB recently published a revised version of proposed Rule G-42, concerning the duties owed by municipal advisors to their public entity clients. The MSRB’s changes to the Rule incorporate many of the comments previously received from the public, the effect of which would be to substantially relax the duties owed by municipal advisors…
Where Do We Go from Here: Scranton Commuter Tax Scrapped
By Tim Horstmann on
It’s no secret that the City of Scanton is facing tough times. Operating under an Act 47 designation of distressed status since 1992, the City faces enormous financial pressures – most notably with respect to its pension obligations. According to the most recent report prepared by the Pennsylvania Public Employee Retirement Commission (based on 2013…
The Challenges of Being a Municipality Under the Laws of Pennsylvania
By Tim Horstmann & David Unkovic on
Reprinted with permission from the September 24, 2013 issue of The Legal Intelligencer.
© 2013 ALM Media Properties, LLC.
Further duplication without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved.
If you are a municipality in Pennsylvania, you do not have an easy life. In many ways, you operate like a small business: you have revenues, expenses…
FAIL: Union Argues Arbitration Panel Should Ignore Public Employers’ Ability to Pay
By Adam Santucci on
Yeah, I know, crazy right? Here is the story. Apparently the Union did not think so. When the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (“Union”) and the City of Philadelphia (“City”) could not reach terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, they submitted the dispute to binding interest arbitration.
The Union was seeking…
Five Things to Know when Contemplating the Issuance of Municipal Debt
By Tim Horstmann & Donna Kreiser on
Municipal financings are often perceived as a very complex, and even overwhelming, undertaking. The various rules and regulations which govern the process oftentimes seem complicated and difficult to understand. Keep in mind that no matter how difficult or cumbersome the process may seem, the issuance of bonds or notes by a municipality is simply the…