Citizens angered by public forum

By RACHEL HOGAN
Collegian Staff Writer

Some citizens looking for a forum to discuss both sides of borough consolidation were left disappointed last night while certain State College Borough officials left feeling that they didn't get a fair shake.

At the League of Women Voters consolidation forum held at Foxdale Village last night, a slide show presentation by the Regional Government Study Task Force supporting the consolidation of the State College Borough, College Township and Patton Township was supposed to be followed by a question and answer session.

But when Borough Manager Peter Marshall stood to give his own impression of the proposed consolidation plan -- in the form of a financial analysis -- he was cut short. Forum leader Nancy Desmond of the League of Women Voters told Marshall he had only one minute to speak.

"I'm prepared to give my minute to Peter," one man in the audience said. Another followed suit.

In Marshall's three minutes he expressed discontent with the proposed plan for consolidation, not for consolidation itself.

"We will lose our home-rule charter if consolidation is approved," Marshall said. "The third-class city is an archaic code."

If consolidation is passed by the voters on May 16, the borough will lose its home-rule charter and become a third-class city unless the constituency follows through on the referendum vote in November. Citizens would have to vote to form a government study committee that will form a home-rule charter.

There is no assurance that a home-rule charter will be enacted, and the borough officials have in the past expressed concern about this.

Elton Atwater, a member of the task force, was prepared to answer questions from the crowd about just such concerns. Atwater said at one point that consolidation will lead to a savings of over $1 million for the municipalities -- a 5 percent savings.

But according to Marshall's figures, the loss of the home-rule charter will lead to a reduced earned-income tax. The current earned-income tax in the borough is 1.3 percent. Without the home-rule charter, it will be 0.5 percent. The difference will have to be made up in the property taxes, possibly as much as a 74 percent increase for State College.

Council Member Janet Knauer said that her concern was not for finances so much as quality of life.

"I'm not worried about my taxes going up. I'm worried about losing services," she said. "I'm concerned because we're being asked to vote on a question mark."

Knauer said she wants to know what the implications of becoming a third-class city will be and what kind of services will be provided under the new consolidated city.

Marshall asked where the figures distributed by the task force came from. The task force gave out a green sheet of paper analyzing expenditures for the three municipalities and gave an estimated savings.

"The largest savings they show is a $500,000 savings in police services. I've been told there was a $300,000 error in that," Marshall said.

Thomas Songer, chairman of the task force, said that the figures listed on the green sheet did show a discrepancy under the listing of savings. The number there did show a savings of over $300,000 more than there will actually be, due to accounting procedures, Songer said.

After all the questioning by State College officials, Atwater reminded the crowd that ultimately they decide whether consolidation passes.

"The (members of the) board of municipalities have one vote a piece. It's going to be an essentially voter-based decision," Atwater said.