Commissioners discuss concerns

A development official said 1,000 jobs could be created in Mercer County.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CLARK, Pa. -- About 25 county commissioners from a group of 16 counties in Northwest Pennsylvania were updated last week on recycling, voting machines and property tax reform.
They also heard a local official talk about industrial development efforts.
Mercer County Commissioners Olivia Lazor and Michele Brooks hosted the Northwest County Commissioners Association at the Tara resort, 3665 Valley View Road.
Doug Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said the fate of recycling programs around the state is still uncertain in light of a recent Lycoming County court decision. The ruling stated counties do not have the authority to use Act 101 landfill licensing fees to fund county recycling centers.
Mercer is one of many counties in the state that had been using the tipping fees to fund county recycling sites. Recycling sites continue to operate here with temporary funding, but Hill said the decision has been appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. No legislative solution can be sought until that decision is made, he added. As a result, it will be "a long time" before the funding quandary is resolved.
He also said many counties are getting jittery about federal mandates requiring them to comply with the Help America Vote Act this month. Counties were to have bought voting machines, or at least encumbered funds by Jan. 1. But the counties are waiting for the federal and state authorities to tell them which machines will be certified.
Hill said some counties are holding on to their old machines for fear their new systems will meet the same fate as Mercer County's $900,000 Unilect voting system, which was found inadequate and decertified last year for use by the state.
He said there is some security in the fact that this time the equipment must meet both federal and state standards before being certified.
Another concern
Other counties have raised the question of what happens if voting machine companies cannot fill orders in time for the election, Hill said.
Some have suggested the HAVA compliance requirement be delayed until the November election under the rationale that the primary election is for the convenience of the political parties and the general election is the actual federal election. But Hill said the U.S. Department of Justice is not inclined toward that view.
He also said the Legislature continues to work on tax reform but it does not appear counties will see any redistribution of the tax burden in the near future.
Counties also may be forced to raise taxes in light of a $700 million to $800 million shortage in Medicaid funds anticipated in Pennsylvania.
After the business meeting, Larry Reichard, Penn-Northwest Development Corp. executive director, gave a presentation about his group's Sites 1000 program. The NWCCA has supported the program.
Jobs
Sites 1000, Reichard said, is part of Penn Northwest's effort to bring development and jobs to Mercer County through marketing, encouraging business retention and expansion, working on site development, and offering financing from two revolving loan funds. Over the next three years, he said 1,000 jobs will be created here if all commitments they have obtained are honored.
The Sites 1000 project focuses on evaluating potential sites, analyzing local industrial history, assessing site facility needs and developing site projects.
Reichard said the county needs 100 acres per year for 10 years to meet the site demand. He said eight projects have been completed or are in progress.
The county provides $100,000 per year to Penn Northwest from economic development millage levied annually by county. In addition, the group gets about $100,000 a year from private contributions.