PENNSYLVANIA TOWNS Some work to leave distressed status behind; others hope to keep it

Ambridge, which was on the list for three years, is finding new uses for brownfields.
AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) -- In the early 1990s, officials in this municipality along the Ohio River wanted desperately to replace their antiquated municipal building. But the former steel town had no money for the project, and the city was prohibited from borrowing the money because of its distressed status under the state law known as Act 47.
So Ambridge, in Beaver County, laid off police officers and street crew, contracted out garbage collection and delayed some capital investments, all in an effort to end state oversight. The town made it off the list in three years.
Ambridge is one of five towns that have successfully emerged from distressed status since Act 47 became law in 1987. With the industries that built the towns gone forever and their populations aging, many have had to make tough decisions, and some continue to struggle.
"Politically, it's easier -- especially if you're going to cut staff and you're an elected official -- it's easier to have an outside appointed group come in and say, 'Thou shalt cut staff,'" said Eileen Navish, borough manager of East Pittsburgh, which emerged from Act 47 in 1999 after about seven years.
Tough decisions
Fred Reddig, deputy director of the Governor's Center for Local Government Services who oversees Act 47, said being under state oversight means making tough decisions. Those decisions don't always go away once distressed status is lifted, he said.
That's the case in the Pittsburgh suburb of North Braddock, said the town's manager, Douglas Marguriet. His borough reduced its police force from full time to part time and removed some streetlights to come off the state list in April 2003, after eight years.
"The tax base obviously isn't growing. We have a huge percentage of senior citizens living on fixed incomes. Obviously there's no new development coming," he said.
Shenandoah Borough in Schuylkill County has been off the list for 11 years after spending about five years as a distressed municipality. It sought help from the state after the elimination of federal revenue sharing in the mid-1980s combined with not being able to bring in revenue to meet costs, said Joseph Palubinsky, the manager.
In the heart of the state's anthracite coal country, Shenandoah also saw that industry decline over decades. Its population followed, dropping from a high of about 30,000 to about 6,000 today.
"What's hurting us now is the ever-escalating cost of insurance for our employees," Palubinsky said.
Better off
Still, most of those that have gotten out from under Act 47 so they are better off.
"It's better simply because there's always a negative connotation, like the elected officials don't know what they're doing financially," said Navish, of East Pittsburgh.
Marguriet added, "You're managing your own resources."
The borough of Wilkinsburg, which was on the list for about 11 years, unsuccessfully fought the state to retain the designation.
Wesley Johnson, who has been Wilkinsburg's manager for about 10 months and its director of code enforcement since 1999, said some people wanted the borough to remain under Act 47 until certain capital improvements, including new firefighting equipment and street paving, were completed.
"Even though the state suggested that we should not be distressed, many folks here in the borough still felt the Act 47 status was appropriate," Johnson said.
Wilkinsburg has tried a number of one-time budget boots, such as hiring an agency to collect outstanding taxes and streamlining sewage billing, he said. But he says revenue has continued to be flat or decrease and expenses have continued to rise.
Quickest turnaround
Part of the answer for Ambridge, about 16 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, lay in finding new uses for the brownfield properties of long-shuttered mills. Ambridge managed to get off the list in 1993, after just three years -- the quickest turnaround of any.
The new municipal building that spurred the town's desire to get off the list is an example of that reuse. Completed in 1997, it was built on a brownfield, as was the 2002 expansion of the Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. While the seminary is a nonprofit, Borough Manager Pamela Caskie said many students, who tend to be in mid-career, live in Ambridge along with their families.
"This is an investment in the community," Caskie said.
Because big industry won't return, Caskie said the borough realizes it must create more housing to expand the tax base. The borough has only had six houses built since 1980.
In her office sits a drawing for a $65 million, 400-unit housing and retail development for an old steel mill site that is expected to generate some $300,000 in annual property taxes. That compares with the roughly $6,000 that would be generated from property tax on an industry employing 100 people and their occupational taxes, she said.
"This project keeping forward will probably keep up from slipping back into Act 47 status," Caskie said.