Nearly two years after Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse first proposed it, the Harrisburg School District has approved a new, ten-year tax abatement program for residential and commercial development in the city.
As reported by The Patriot News:
The program would provide a 100-percent tax break for 10 years to improvements on residential properties
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The deal is reportedly for $23 million. Per The Patriot News:
The sale will eliminate $16 million in debt the borough has. Pa. American Water also agreed to invest $2 million in wastewater and other
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The Pennsylvania 2015-2016 Budget Impasse may be (technically) over, but it just claimed another victim. From The Bond Buyer:
Standard & Poor’s has discontinued its underlying rating for credit enhancement programs on rated Pennsylvania school districts.
S&P announced the policy change Tuesday afternoon as an additional step to its December withdrawal of ratings based
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For government employers, disciplining and terminating employees can be especially difficult. Not only does the public employer face the same challenges in complying with the standard alphabet soup of employment laws that private employers do, including the ADA, ADEA, FMLA, Title VII, etc., they also have the complicated task of considering the application of an…
We previously reported on Mayor Eric Papenfuse’s controversial plan to triple the local services tax in the City of Harrisburg (a tax that overwhelmingly affects commuters, not residents). After securing the needed sign-off from the Commonwealth Court in January, Papenfuse’s plan was stalled by City Council as it worked through numerous other changes proposed to…
I recently published in The Legal Intelligencer a timely article on cybersecurity threats to local governments. The failure of local governments to adequately address data security is causing huge costs to taxpayers and exposing municipalities to significant legal risks.
While private companies have become increasingly attentive to the risks of data breaches, attention to information…
DEP is in the process of finalizing changes to individual and general permits for municipal storm sewer systems that would result in stringent and costly requirements on municipalities throughout the Commonwealth. I recently co-authored an article for publication in The Legal Intelligencer on these changes, and how municipalities can address them.
DEP’s proposed changes modify…
Large privately held, publicly regulated utility companies with a focus on rapid growth and expansion throughout the Commonwealth have a new target – municipally owned water and wastewater systems. Pennsylvania legislation over the last few years has provided considerable financial and regulatory incentives for this unprecedented growth. These companies are no longer waiting for municipalities…
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) recently published the agenda for the January 27-28, 2016 meeting of its Board of Directors. Among the items noted for discussion is the following:
Bank Loans
The Board will discuss direct purchases of municipal securities by financial institutions and bank loans to municipal entities to consider whether the MSRB
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As 2015 winds down and we prepare to welcome 2016, many smaller municipalities, municipal authorities, and other public entities may be putting the final touches on last-minute financings, or preparing for new financings in early 2016. In many of these issuances, the term “bank-qualified” will be used.
For such issuers, bank qualification is a means…
