Just as Pittsburgh’s Mayor and the City’s police bureau are locked in arbitration hearings and both sides are arguing over contract provisions and, according to the Mayor, over the presence of Act 47 and a recovery plan itself, the Act 47 list of distressed communities has just grown by one this week with the addition of Colwyn Borough in Delaware County. Along with the larger City of Chester, which has been under Act 47 status since 1995, Colwyn is the third municipality from Delaware County to be in Act 47 (the Borough of Milbourne was in from 1993 to 2014).
Colwyn Borough becomes the first municipality to enter into distress following the changes that became law in November of 2014 under Act 199 with its changes to time limits, tax options, and disincorporation possibilities that the law puts into place. Based on the testimony included in the Department of Community and Economic Development’s order, the Borough’s financial problems appear to go back two decades so it will be a tall order for the Act 47 coordinators to steer the local government within the new timeline requirements.
