TheBurg

12.19 | theburgnews.com | 7 school BuDGet ReviseD e Harrisburg school district issued a substantial budget revision last month, stating that the previous administration mismanaged the district's finances and drastically overstated revenue. According to Acting Superintendent John George, the district's 2019-20 budget has been revised downward to $152.1 million, nearly $6.7 million less than the approved budget, which was finalized in June. e new budget yields a $2.6 million shortfall for the year. "e amount of errors and mismanagement we have uncovered is egregious and truly unfair to the students, staff and taxpayers of this school district," George said, in a statement. Much of the shortfall—$5.1 million—is due to the prior administration overestimating state revenue that would be received, according to the district. Soon after receivership began in June, the district's new administrative team began to piece together the district's finances. At the time George, appointed to his post by Receiver Janet Samuels, told eBurg that the district's finances were fragmented and in disarray. e findings are the result of four months of "painstakingly pouring through Harrisburg's financial records and systems," according to the district. Other results include a $1.9 million underestimation of tuition payments to charter schools and payments to "ineligible employees." e district also lost $2.8 million over the past two years in federal School Improvement Grant funding at John Harris High School, a program designed to help failing students get back on track. e district didn't properly administer the program and didn't provide documentation to the government of how funds were spent, according to a school district statement. George stated that the district is implementing "a number of financial strategies" to save money for the remainder of the school year. ese include: • refinancing debt with lower-interest loans • reviewing medical benefits contracts • recommitting to the sale of dormant assets, such as William Penn High School and Woodward Elementary • pursuing new grants and other non-traditional revenue sources • lowering charter school costs "Truly, every financial aspect of this school district will continue to be analyzed," George said. He said that the district already has begun to put in place procedures and training to improve business practices, approval processes and other financial checks. e district has also established a fraud reporting hotline. Tipsters should call 717-703-4135 or email fraud@hbgsd.us. election yielDs FeW suRpRises Harrisburg voters completed the replacement of the school board last month and returned three incumbents to City Council in a general election that held few surprises for city voters. With no Republicans running, the Democratic nominees claimed all five school board seats with only nominal opposition. Douglas ompson Leader, Gerald Welch, James ompson, Jayne Buchwach and Steve Williams all will serve four-year terms on the board. is month, the five victors will be sworn in as new school board directors. However, their ability to make policy will be limited due to the appointment in June of Dr. Janet Samuels as the district's receiver. Under the receivership, the elected school board has been stripped of power except for the ability to levy taxes. Since her appointment, Samuels has run the district largely by decree. For City Council, Democratic incumbents Westburn Majors, Dave Madsen and Danielle Bowers all will return for four-year terms after facing no Republican opposition in the general election. Majors and Madsen were re-elected, while Bowers won her first competitive seat after appointment last year to fill an opening on council. Incumbent Treasurer Dan Miller, running unopposed, was re- elected to his position. Races in Dauphin County were more competitive. Voters returned all three incumbent commissioners to office, but the race was close for much of the evening. In the end, Republicans Jeff Haste (28,080 votes) and Mike Pries (26,560 votes) and Democrat George Hartwick (25,928 votes) each were re-elected to four-year terms. Democratic challenger Diane Bowman came in fourth place with 22,026 votes. As usual, Republican incumbents won all the row offices in Dauphin County, but several races proved to be competitive. For clerk of courts, incumbent Dale Klein defeated challenger Brad Koplinski by a tally of 27,147 to 24,326. For register of wills, Jean Marfizo King topped Democratic challenger Bridget Whitley by a margin of 27,725 to 23,733. In the recorder of deeds race, Republican incumbent Jim Zugay won another term, defeating Democrat Cole Goodman by a vote of 27,869 to 23,506. For county treasurer, incumbent Janis Creason prevailed over Democratic challenger Tim Butler by a 27,947 to 23,392 margin. Several Republican incumbents ran unopposed and will return to office. ese include District Attorney Fran Chardo, Sheriff Nick Chimienti and Controller Timothy DeFoor. Business paRkinG pRoGRam pRoposeD Which comes first: the parking chicken or the parking egg? Harrisburg City Council and the administration recently debated this question as they discussed whether to establish a business parking permit program in the city. e idea would be similar to the current program for residential parking permits, said Richard Kotz, the city's parking administrator. For a fee, city businesses could purchase annual permits for street parking in designated zones, which would be outside of residential parking zones and outside of any metered area controlled by Park Harrisburg/SP+. e proposal is meant to be an economic development driver for the city, Kotz said. It might also reduce the need for surface parking lots for businesses, while raising some money for the city, he said. "ese districts would provide another economic tool that would attract new businesses into the city as well as retain existing ones that may be expanding," Kotz said. Almost immediately, council members pushed back on the proposal. ey asked for greater detail, such as how many districts the administration would propose and where it would locate them. Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the first step would be to establish the program, setting up its general structure. Specifics, such as where they districts would be established, would come after and would be subject to approval by council, just like residential districts currently are. "Whatever proposals we have would come before council," he said. "ere would be a process where they would be vetted and discussed. is is merely allowing us to establish a business parking permit concept similar as what we have with the residential parking now." Several council members kept pressing the administration for additional detail. Council President Wanda Williams seemed skeptical that the administration didn't have certain areas or businesses in mind. "You must have an idea where you want to put particular districts," she said. "I'm asking you: Where is that information?" Council member Ben Allatt voiced concern that business districts could encroach on residential areas, creating more difficult parking for residents. He said that he'd like to see a "multi-pronged solution" that addressed both residential and business parking. "We have multiple issues, and we're only addressing part of that by this," he said. "I'd like to see a comprehensive look at how we're looking at parking also from a residential aspect." Papenfuse said that Kotz is "actively working with residents" to improve and change residential parking districts. "at is going on simultaneously," he said. Several council members referred specifically to areas of Midtown, where parking is already difficult due to state workers parking on the street, with the possibility of even tougher parking after completion of the federal courthouse and the new state archives, both on N. 6th Street. "It's possible we need a new residential district," Papenfuse said. "We could expand the existing one." Council member Westburn Majors said that he thought that the idea had merit and that the city should consider establishing the program on a trial basis. "Usually, when you have an idea like this, there's a pilot of a section or two," he said. "In my mind, there are one or two areas of the city where an initial pilot like this would work well." Williams pushed back repeatedly on the proposal, insisting that she needed more information before casting a vote. "Obviously, you were sitting around thinking about this," she said. "Where is the map? Where is the zoning that you're considering?" Harrisburg is revisiting an ordinance that would allow greater housing density in residentially zoned areas, the latest move by the administration to spur development in the city. Last month, Harrisburg City Council introduced an ordinance that would remove density restrictions for the city's two main residential zones—dubbed "residential low-density" and "residential medium-density." ese two zones cover most of the city's residential neighborhoods. According to Mayor Eric Papenfuse, this change would make city neighborhoods more attractive to developers and offer a greater variety of housing to residents at a range of price points. "We need more units of housing developed," he said. "We don't currently have a climate in which that is easy to do." city consiDeRs zoninG chanGes Under existing law, the low-density residential zone allows four to eight dwelling units per acre, while the medium-density residential zone permits eight to 20 dwelling units per acre. is ordinance would remove those density restrictions. e proposal also would repeal the current requirement in another zoning district, the "commercial neighborhood" zone, which mandates a minimum of 1,200 square feet per dwelling unit. e city's Planning Commission, by a 5-1 vote, recommended against this proposal, citing possible adverse consequences by removing density restrictions, as well as concerns over parking. is is actually the second time that the administration has proposed the zoning change. Last year, council also introduced the ordinance, but ended up not voting on it. news

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