HARRISBURG PATRIOTNEWS Op Ed: The Pennsylvania General Assembly must get serious about municipal reform. In his testimony last November to the state Senate Local Government Committee, Mr. Unkovic identified several causes for the municipal debt crisis in the state and proposed common sense solutions.
Chief among them, laws must be tightened to provide stronger state oversight over local municipal debt structuring and re-structuring. The use of long-term debt proceeds to pay current expenses or to plug holes in current budgets should be eliminated. Pushing large amounts of debt service into future years should be strictly regulated.
If taxpayers are truly going to be watchful stewards, state laws also must force local governments to open and audit books, file timely financial statements, and show how borrowings will be repaid – all before state officials approve bond sales. The public cannot appropriately question how its tax dollars are being spent if it doesn’t have all of the facts… (more)
EDITOR: Even if this were to occur, it tragically would be too late for the citizenry of Lancaster as their $200 million nest egg is about to be looted.
