May 24th, 2010

Writes the York Dispatch today in an editorial:

“A few months ago, York Mayor Kim Bracey and more than 40 other mayors from cash-strapped cities and towns rallied at the state Capitol, pleading for help from the state.

The League of Cities and Municipalities and its members were asking for extra taxation options to deal with skyrocketing public safety and health care costs that are outpacing stagnant tax revenue.

The situation is getting desperate and cities are running out of options, the mayors said.

The financial crisis already has pushed the city of Reading into Act 47 protection, which offers financially distressed municipalities increased taxation options and assistance from the state.

It’s a fate that could also await York in the next two years, city business administrator Michael O’Rourke said last year.

But the mayors’ concerns consistently have fallen on deaf ears, Bracey said after the March rally.

We agree the Legislature should give Pennsylvania’s municipalities more tools to handle this problem, but we also think cities, townships and boroughs must continue to look for homegrown ways to cut costs.”

Read the rest of the editorial.