HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS Op Ed: … But the truth of the matter is that the plan envisions full repayment to the city’s major creditors without regard to their responsibility for creating a mountain of unsustainable public debt. And of course city residents will bear the brunt of the cost through higher taxes, higher parking fees and a declining quality of municipal life.
Indeed, I fear that much of the Lynch plan is based on the kind of phantom financing involving questionable assumptions amounting to wishful thinking) that got Harrisburg into the fiscal crisis in which it currently finds itself…
While doubling the parking rates may be good for the city’s budget it can’t be good for the few remaining merchants and small businesses. It will certainly add another layer of expense and inconvenience for residents who are already paying the highest taxes in the area. It will drive more shoppers to suburban malls and deter people from coming into the city to enjoy its many offerings. There should be a careful cost-benefit analysis of this proposal before any action is taken… (more)
