Regarding the tangled web of debt between the City of Harrisburg, Dauphin County, and the Harrisburg Authority over obligations on a trash incinerator and whether those obligations could lead Harrisburg into Act 47 distressed status or Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, the Governor of Pennsylvania offered this statement:

"There’s no easy, pain free way out…there is no Santa Claus riding into the aid of the City".

Maybe not as harsh as the 1975 headline "Feds to New York: Drop Dead" but clearly a message that the Commonwealth won’t advance funds or bailout Harrisburg over the debt. Instead, a meeting between the Governor, the Mayor of Harrisburg, and other officials produced a consensus that technical advice from the state would be available, but the City should look to sell assets and increase disposal fees to County residents.

The Mayor wants to avoid Act 47, and said that "bankruptcy would be the last option". With some $17 million in debt coming due in four months, that last option might be approaching rapidly.