By Bill Keisling
ROCK THE CAPITAL: … As part of the smoke and mirrors of the Corbett Administration’s state-imposed bailout of 2013, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is supposed to give Harrisburg at least $10 million a year in subsidies for years ahead to keep the city afloat.
The city’s budget is only $59 million, so $10 million in hidden subsidies is quite a prop.
These subsidies includes $5 million a year for fire and “public safety protection,” and another $5 million that Corbett pledged to pay for state employee parking spaces, to keep the unpopular and financially questionable parking deal solvent.
Trouble is, none of those state funds are in any way guaranteed, and must be approved yearly by the legislature. Moreover, as longtime Harrisburgers know, it has been a tug of war going back to the 1960s to get the state to pay for fire protection services. The state for decades has threatened to cut the funds, or not pay at all… (more)
EDITOR: Gov. Tom Corbett’s refusal to allow Harrisburg to contemplate bankruptcy in order to negotiate successfully with creditors was as outlandish as any of his other irresponsible actions while governor. The man was prisoner to ideology and political contributors.
