Friday marked the release of what will likely become the final Act 47 recovery plan for the City of Harrisburg and a lot of work lies ahead on debt levels, worker benefits, and financial management for the state’s capital community.
Is there anything Harrisburg can take from the largest city in Act 47 status, western Pennsylvania’s own Pittsburgh? A lot of the situation is going to be unique. But Harrisburg, like many local governments, is a labor-intense enterprise so much of the change on the cost side is going to be focused on headcount, salaries, and benefits. Based on the employee headcount and Census population, Harrisburg has 10.7 employees per 1,000 people this year. Five years ago the rate was 13.4; the City’s headcount fell while population bumped up. By comparison in Pittsburgh, where population fell and headcount went up a tiny amount over that same time frame, the per 1,000 person employee count stands at 10.9, up slightly from 10.6.
The similarity in employee to population right now is likely to diverge as the Act 47 plan comes into effect. As with many changes to employee benefits like post-retirement health care, change often comes to new hires. That’s what Pittsburgh did in 2005 when post-retirement health care coverage was ended for police and fire coming into the employment ranks and those retiring after the adoption of the plan would have higher coverage obligations. That too, is what is proposed for Harrisburg under their Act 47 plan.
Finally, on pensions the ability to collect benefits is virtually identical between the cities (50 years of age, 20 years of service for police and fire, though non-uniformed employees in Pittsburgh can retire with benefits at age 60 where in Harrisburg it is 65) but there is a big difference in the funding health of the plans. Pittsburgh has a funded ratio (AA/AAL) of 34% on average for its three plans, while Harrisburg has more assets than liabilities and has a funded ratio of 116%.
