Commissioners Riled Over State Auditor General Remarks

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The Bradford County Commissioners (above) expressed their disagreement with criticism lodged against the county recently by the Commonwealth’s Auditor General at a meeting held on Dec. 8 at the courthouse in Towanda.

Photos and Story by Rick Hiduk

At their first public meeting in three weeks, the Bradford County Commissioners made quick work of an agenda heavy with annual contract renewals and new hires to leave time for response to a report issued on Dec. 5 by PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.

DePasquale has suggested that spending of impact fee funds in Bradford County and other municipalities (highly impacted by natural gas drilling) was “questionable.” He said that Pennsylvania’s 37 counties and 1,487 need more oversight at the state level in their spending practices and that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) might not be the most appropriate agency to handle the program.

This is a salvo across the bow to discredit the impact fee in favor of a severance tax,” said Commissioner Daryl Miller. While the Act 13 disbursements are handled at the county level, a severance tax would go directly to Harrisburg, Miller continued. “I think we can all figure out where it goes from there.”

I’m kind of at a loss as to what the point was,” Commissioner Doug McLinko (below) said of DePasquale’s report, calling it to as pointless political maneuver.

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The commissioners maintain that they have run all of their plans for use and distribution of impact fee money through their solicitors and other attorneys to ensure that they were compliant with the 2012 law. They have met with PUC officials in Harrisburg numerous times as well, McLinko noted.

It was written broadly to allow flexibility in the use of these funds. The law provides no further guidance in the use of these funds,” Commissioner Ed Bustin read from statements issued by the PUC about Act 13.

We didn’t invent this program. We didn’t create this law,” Bustin continued. “The counties are allowed to pass judgment and to use this money as best fits our municipalities.”

The ‘vagueness’ is built in for a purpose,” Miller concurred, noting that there are other aspects of the impact fee guidelines that are very specific.

According to Bustin, legitimate uses include trails, parks, recreation, playgrounds, tax reduction, infrastructure associated with safe and affordable housing, judicial services, law enforcement, and public safety, which has included offsetting the costs of prison overcrowding in Bradford County.

Bradford County seems to be at the top of DePasquale’s “hit list,” according to the Associated Press, which broke the story on Tuesday. The report cites $2.4 million in Act 13 funds used by the county for operating costs at its correctional facility, followed by $167,000 used toward the completion of the Bradford County Veterans Memorial Park. Other “questionable” expenses in Bradford County, according to the Auditor General, include $90,000 for a playground and portable boat dock and $20,000 for a community theater.

Did we buy playground equipment? Yes, we did,” said McLinko in defense of the installation of an “inclusive” playground at Larnard-Hornbrook Park for children with and without physical limitations. “Did we put in a boat dock? Yes, we did. And it’s getting a lot of use.”

Before any of the aforementioned projects were funded, McLinko noted, millions of dollars in impact fees were given directly to fire companies and other first responders, “because they needed it most.”

County government works,” Bustin asserted. “We should be trusted with these things.”

We make no apologies,” McLinko stated vehemently, suggesting that DePasquale should redirect his attention to more important matters such as auditing the misuse of public lands. McLinko said the $6 to $7 million that has been distributed by the PUC to Bradford County so far is a “drop in the bucket” compared to the millions of dollars that have left the state via Chesapeake, Andarko, Williams and other companies under the guise of “post production” costs.

We will continue to do it exactly as we have done,” Bustin said of the county’s handling of Act 13 disbursements.

Nonetheless, McLinko sees DePasquale’s report as a warning shot. “There will be an attempt by these people to take our money and use it,” he remarked. The commissioners have met with and spoken by phone to commissioners in Susquehanna, Tioga and Lycoming counties that were also cited in DePasquale’s report for inappropriate use of impact fee money.

They’re all hopping mad,” said McLinko.

Bradford County plans a legal response to DePasquale’s report after conferring again with CCAP (County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania) and other county’s commissioners.

In related news, Bradford County Planning Director Matt Williams was on hand for the commissioners’ approval of a contract submitted by The EADS Group, which will head up the revamping of the county’s comprehensive plan.

We’ve had so much happen in our county since the last one,” said Williams, noting that The EADS Group is just wrapping up work in adjacent Tioga County, which is also largely rural and dealing with natural gas development.

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