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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 1, 2014 04:57 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Rob Teplitz |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Legislation - Capital Complex Public Safety Reimbursement |
| In the near future, I will again introduce legislation to permanently require full reimbursement from the state for providing fire protection and emergency services to the 40 tax-exempt state-owned buildings located in the City of Harrisburg. Rep. Patty Kim also plans on again introducing identical legislation in the House. While Harrisburg shares the financial struggles of other Third Class Cities, it clearly has unique burdens as the capital city of our Commonwealth. Nearly 49% of its properties are tax exempt due to the public and non-profit sectors. Nevertheless, over 50% of the Bureau of Fire’s operating budget is derived through taxes. Historically, the Commonwealth has grossly underfunded the City of Harrisburg for providing emergency fire protection services. For the last two years, I and others successfully fought for $5 million in the state budget, which covers the city’s annual cost of providing these services at the Capital Complex. However, in order to ensure the city’s continued progress towards financial recovery that funding must remain intact in future state budgets, and the city and its advocates should not have to fight for it each year. Senators Schwank, Fontana and Costa served as co-sponsors of this legislation when I first introduced this legislation last session. I ask you to join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as SB160