The Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority for Harrisburg Votes Down Proposed Five-Year Financial Plan

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – The Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority for Harrisburg (the Authority) has disapproved the City of Harrisburg’s proposed update to the Mayor’s Five-Year Financial Plan.

The Authority voted unanimously to disapprove at its public meeting on December 16, 2020.

Under state law, the City is required to prepare and submit a proposed five-year plan for the Board’s review during each fiscal year. The requirements of the plan include components that will eliminate projected deficits, implement sound budgetary practices, and provide procedures to avoid a fiscal emergency condition in the future.

Audry Carter, chairperson of the Authority board, stated, “The City of Harrisburg’s proposed Five- Year Financial Plan demonstrates a stable fiscal position, with a strong General Fund balance and relatively resilient revenues in spite of the global pandemic and economic crisis.

“However there remain areas of significant concern highlighted in the proposed plan, which we will work with the City to address. We look forward to reconsidering a revised plan for approval.”

Authority Manager Jeffrey Stonehill explained, “The Authority is charged with review of the annual plan. If the Board finds deficiencies and thus disapproves, the Mayor is given an opportunity to amend the plan. The Authority members and I look forward to working with the administration on resolving these issues.”

The Authority identified specific, material issues preventing the approval of the proposed plan as submitted. In this respect, the Authority specifically pointed to:

• The Neighborhood Services Fund, a principal proprietary fund of the City of Harrisburg, demonstrated annual deficits in the proposed plan update, which is not permitted pursuant to state law. The plan points to a trend of this fund balance approaching depletion.
• A schedule of projected capital commitments for the Neighborhood Services Fund was not included, as required by state law.
• Financial information associated with an Intermunicipal Sanitation Agreement with the Borough of Steelton appeared defective and not in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
• The plan lacked supporting information for capital improvement projects, including details, descriptions, and all sources of funding.
• The plan lacked supporting information to demonstrate proper planning procedures for new initiatives, including a significant increase in headcount from 462 to 512 FTEs and a new Community Services Division. Additionally, the Board is concerned that while the Plan acknowledges the effects of COVID-19 on the current fiscal year and reasonably pushes off any consideration of recovery for affected funds and services until the 2022 fiscal year, more consideration needs to be shown of worst-case scenarios. Under state law, the Authority shall deliver a written notification of disapproval to the City, and the City shall submit a revised plan within 15 days. However, the Authority board indicated it would be willing to grant a reasonable extension of time, if the City were to request it. The Board noted that the submission of the plan, originally intended for adoption by June 30, 2020, had already been delayed to December 2020. The Board further noted that COVID-19 issues, administrative demands, and the unprecedented nature of fiscal projections based on revenue streams and service demands upended by the virus will continue to be matters of discussion as the City and Authority enter the next cycle of plan updates, set to begin in April 2021.