A series of neighborhood meetings will take place this fall to educate city voters about the home rule charter that will come before them for approval on Election Day.
Members of the Home Rule Study Commission will outline the charter’s content, and Mayor Denene Sorace is planning to attend to discuss the implications for city finances and policy, Amy Ruffo, who chairs the commission’s Public Education Subcommittee, told her fellow commissioners during a brief meeting Thursday evening.
The meeting details are posted here. They all begin at 6 p.m., as follows:
- Thursday, Sept. 26: West Art, 816 Buchanan Ave.
- Wed, Oct. 2: Sheffy Bldg., McCaskey High School campus, 1020 Lehigh Ave.
- Thursday, Oct. 3: The Mix, 520 North St.
- Thursday, Oct. 10: Bright Side Opportunities Center, 515 Hershey Ave.
- Thursday, Oct. 24: Polite Council Chambers, City Hall, 120 N. Duke St.
Other efforts being discussed to promote awareness include posters and a mailer. The latter would go out to every registered city voter, Ruffo said.
State law on the home rule approval process requires the referendum to be advertised once a week for three weeks in the local newspaper, and notices must be posted at all polling places. The city administration is handling those details, Solicitor Barry Handwerger said.
Lancaster County spokesman Michael Fitzpatrick confirmed that the county Elections Office has received all the paperwork from the commission required to place the referendum question on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Final report posted
Two weeks ago, the commission voted 7-0 to approve the home rule charter that they had been working on since January. It now goes to city voters in a referendum as part of the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5. If approved, it would take effect at the start of 2025.
The proposed charter forms the bulk of the commission’s final report (PDF), which is posted here, along with the schedule of education sessions and other informational documents in English and Spanish. Additional information and links are available on the Home Rule Study Commission’s web page.
In a preface to the report, written on behalf of the full commission, Chairman Brian Adams says that the charter “retains the best features of the city’s present form of government, while establishing new provisions including enhanced public participation in budget adoption, increased financial reporting, an ethics commission, and increased ability for citizens to propose legislation to council and by voter referendum.”
Every citizen should review the report and charter, Adams writes. Commission members believe the charter is in Lancaster’s best interest and “enthusiastically recommend” its adoption, the preface says.
Under the charter, City Council would have the ability to raise the earned income tax, or EIT, above the current maximum of 0.6%. (The School District of Lancaster has an 0.5% EIT, for a total of 1.1%.) Home rule advocates say this added flexibility would allow Lancaster to create a more equitable tax system, burdening lower-income homeowners less and tapping a source of revenue that tends to increase naturally over time without rate increases.
A provision in the charter (§ 8.08) limits year-over-year budget revenue increases to 6%; to allow for a transition period, however, another provision (§ 13.14) waives the limit for the charter’s first two years, or until 2027.
The commission heard from two members of the public Thursday. Bennett Burhow congratulated it for making good decisions on difficult issues and creating a charter that can be modified down the road if and when unintended consequences become evident. Irene Grivas, who has repeatedly berated the city and is embroiled in a legal battle over its condemnation of rental property she owns, said she hopes the charter will be rejected.
While commissioners will be involved in public education, there is no further business mandated for the commission as a whole. It will be up to commission members to determine if there’s a need for any meetings after Thursday, Chairman Adams said.
Government study commissions are “discharged” and disbanded automatically once a referendum takes place and is certified, regardless of the outcome, the Pennsylvania Economy League said.
