State can’t help pay off Harrisburg’s debt, Pennsylvania governor says

HARRISBURG (AP) — The state of Pennsylvania cannot help pay off the huge debt weighting down its capital city, although Gov. Ed Rendell says the mayor has a “workable” plan to address the problem.

Rendell met Wednesday with Mayor Linda Thompson to go over details of her plan, which, in part, involves selling city assets.

Selling assets, he said, is painful but will show bondholders that the city is serious about trying to pay back as much as it can.

“And it will make it easier for the city to renegotiate the outstanding loans,” Rendell said.

The other part of Thompson’s plan involves securing higher trash-dumping fees paid by Dauphin County.

Harrisburg has guaranteed the $288 million debt on the city’s trash incinerator.

That amount is more than four times as much as the city’s annual budget.

Neither the city nor the Harrisburg Authority, which operates the incinerator, has the cash to meet $68 million in debt payments due this year.

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