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The Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority for Harrisburg Accepts Five-Year Financial Plan for 2026

Contact: Douglas E. Hill, ICA Board Chair, ica.dehill@gmail.com, 717-979-2566

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – At its meeting on September 24, 2025, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority for Harrisburg (the Authority) approved the City of Harrisburg’s Five-Year Financial Plan (the Plan) for 2026.  

The Plan was prepared and submitted in a timely manner by Mayor Wanda R.D. Williams’ administration.

The approved Plan includes projected revenues and expenditures for five fiscal years, including projected capital expenditures, for the City’s General Fund and other operating funds. The approved Plan projects balanced budgets based upon reasonable and appropriate assumptions, which are described in the Plan.

The Plan incorporates several major initiatives in financial management and other categories, including improvements to the FNB Baseball Field on City Island, development of a comprehensive economic development plan, implementation of a variety of uses for cash balances left over from the American Rescue Plan Act, and rehabilitation of the Broad Street Market.

In correspondence transmitted by Board Chair Douglas Hill, the Authority laid out items of focus going forward including:

  • The Authority has a continuing overall concern for the protection and maintenance of the operational cash balances in the General Fund and, to an even larger degree, the Neighborhood Services Fund. It is clear from the 2026 Plan that real estate tax yields are not projected to grow in yield in the future. In fact, due to vacant offices and stores, which are the collateral damage from COVID telework policies, it is possible that there may be an inevitable retreat in property tax growth. It is a priority that the City budgets focus on stabilizing the trend in declining revenue and avoid fund balance depletion;
  • The City must protect its revenue sources so that real estate tax dependence is lessened and use of cash balances does not increase. As Pennsylvania’s Capital City, the Commonwealth has some hard decisions to make about what kind of metropolis it wants to have as its seat of governance. Any reimagining of Harrisburg and its finances must include a full commitment to the City by State leaders, including diversified revenue sources and an economic development partnership.
  • The Authority is watching the continuing effort to shore up the financial stability of the Neighborhood Services Fund (“NSF”), with a focus on past due receivables, as well as achieving a rate of collection on current receivables above 95% as soon as possible. The Authority noted that while we welcome the 2026 Plan’s narrative on utilizing the American Rescue Plan Act funding to support unpaid receivables in the NSF, and we appreciate that it is targeted as relief primarily for delinquent disadvantaged households, the one-time use of this found-money is not considered a substitute for improving collections and maintaining close cost-accounting with our municipal partner contracts.
  • As a partner in the recently announced Comprehensive Economic Development effort being led by the Capital Region Economic Development Council (“CREDC”), the Authority welcomes recent action by the Administration to prioritize the development of a comprehensive Economic Development Plan. Apart from its importance for the vitality and opportunity it affords the downtown and our neighborhoods, it is an integral tool for the City to build long-term economic growth in the face of future trends in City revenue.
  • The Authority acknowledges the obstacles presented to implementation of the Other Post-Employment Benefits (“OPEB”) Trust Fund. Any opportunity to readdress the OPEB Trust Fund language in the Strong Plan and in Act 124 of 2018 should be in cooperation with the Authority.
  • A recommendation that the City redouble the effort to shore up the financial stability of the Neighborhood Services Fund, with a focus on past due receivables as well as achieving a rate of collection on current receivables above 95% as soon as possible. A continuing commitment to review and adjust fees as necessary for sufficiency to meet expenses and avoid drawing from reserves is acknowledged;
  • The Authority encourages the development of a comprehensive Economic Development Plan. Apart from its importance for the vitality and opportunity it affords the downtown and our neighborhoods, it is an integral tool for the City to build long-term economic growth in the face of future trends the Plan projects in City revenue generally and the property tax in particular;
  • The Authority makes note of the Strong Plan’s parking scheme, implemented at the height of our City’s fiscal crisis. We remain deeply concerned that this plan has not worked well for businesses or the City; and
  • The Board is deeply concerned about the slow progress and rising costs associated with the City’s efforts to rebuild the Broad Street Market. While we are aware of the constraints placed on the City by Code procurement requirements, by historic design requirements, and by materials pricing, we are equally mindful that the Market is not only a landmark asset, it is a symbol of community resilience, and greatly missed as an economic anchor for our community.

Chair Douglas Hill shared that the Authority “acknowledges the outstanding efforts of long-serving Accounting Manager Bryan McCutcheon, and his comprehensive and detailed work on behalf of the City of Harrisburg” and encouraged continued recruitment and retention of the best municipal minds to enable Harrisburg to design a future with both vision and practical fiscal success. The full report can be found at the Authority website, www.hbgica.org or by clicking on this direct link:  https://hbgica.org/download/1508/?tmstv=1758909917