At an early Wednesday morning press conference, city receiver William Lynch shares what he calls a breakthrough in negotiations with creditors.
“The city of Harrisburg will walk away from, and county, from incinerator debt,” says Lynch.
Lynch says a large part of the agreement is selling the incinerator. It’s contributed to the city’s debt by $345 million dollars. City leaders say a tentative plan to sell the incinerator to the Lancaster County Solid Waste management will go before court in August.
City Council Member, Brad Koplinski says, “There’s a significant portion of the city’s debt that ‘s associated with it. And when you sell it, you have to get rid of the debt and when you get rid of the debt, it puts you well on your way to make sure we have fiscal recovery.”
A change Mayor Linda Thompson says she’s been working towards. “Elected officials are called and they take an oath that they’re going to be honest and serve the people and not be constantly concerned about their own special interest. I was committed every step of the way and did everything I possibly could.”
The plan also calls for lease deals putting public parking garages in the hands of private operators who agree to share revenue with the city.