Judge Orders Harrisburg to Suspend Incinerator Debt Payments

Date: August 27, 2012

Source: News Room

A Pennsylvania judge ordered the City of Harrisburg, PA, which has been teetering on bankruptcy, to suspend debt service payments on its troubled incinerator and to raise taxes by 1 percentage point. Commonwealth Court Judge Bonnie Leadbetter ruled in favor of the state-appointed receiver William Lynch who included the tax provision in his recovery plan for the city that is burdened with $320 million of debt related to the incinerator. In June he invited the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority to begin negotiations to buy the incinerator for about $124 million. Judge Leadbetter's ruling breaks a deadlock between the city council, which opposed the tax, and the state's receiver and the city's mayor. However, the ruling restricts revenue from the tax increase to pay only for essential city services.

See also: "Harrisburg Selects Lancaster for Negotiations on Troubled Incinerator," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20120627A.htm), June 27, 2012.

See also: "More Trouble and Controversy Surround Harrisburg Incinerator," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20120410B.htm), April 6, 2012.

See also: "At Least Four Suitors Vying for Harrisburg's Troubled Incinerator," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20120322A.htm), March 22, 2012.

Sign up to receive our free Weekly News Bulletin