By MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER

marcie@bradfordera.com

A surprise announcement Friday afternoon might eventually lead to a change in the way the City of Bradford is governed.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Bradford City Council will hold a work session with Terri Cunkle of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) to explore the potential benefits of transitioning to a home rule charter form of government.

A home rule charter allows municipalities to design their own government structure through an elected commission of seven city residents. One of the primary advantages of this transition is the removal of state-imposed tax rate limitations, providing greater flexibility in generating revenue to fund essential government services, council’s press release stated.

Mayor Tom Riel, when contacted by The Era, said, ‘City council wants to change the form of government. Most of our codes would stay the same, but we could potentially change the size of our governing body or put in things like term limits.

‘It’s really about survival,’ the mayor said, adding that Bradford is late to the game. ‘So many other governments have done it.’

Several Pennsylvania municipalities, including Sharon, Greenville, New Castle and Lancaster, have recently adopted a home rule charter.

Council’s release continued, ‘If you are a city resident and interested in running to be a part of this commission, we urge you to attend the work session on Tuesday.’

It will be held in council chambers at city hall, 24 Kennedy St. City administrator Eric Taylor said he thinks the idea had been ‘tossed around’ for a while.

‘However, when I met with our DCED representative in February she

Bradford… page A-8

The City of Bradford will explore a transition to a home rule charter form of government.

Era file photo brought up the fact that now is as good of time as any to try to get this off the ground, especially since we are still under the STMP program,” he said, referring to the Strategic Management Planning Program of the state that assists municipalities experiencing fiscal difficulties. “Generally, if a municipality wants to do this it can cost at a minimum $200,000. Since we are still within our STMP program, we would only be responsible for 10% of the cost.”

A home rule charter in Pennsylvania is a document that defines a local government’s structure, powers and duties. It’s similar to a constitution for a local government. Currently the City of St. Marys operates under a home rule charter with a council-manager form of government adopted by popular vote in 1992. Council consists of five elected members and an appointed manager as chief executive.

Other forms include an independently elected mayor who serves as president of council, as is done now in Bradford. Council appoints a city manager, solicitor, engineer, boards and commissions. The manager hires directors and department heads.

Another form might include a full-time mayor who is not a member of council. The mayor would appoint boards and commissions, and a manager with council consent. The manager would appoint directors and employees.

Yet another might eliminate the position of mayor and have an elected council, who would appoint a manager to appoint directors and employees.

The DCED described benefits of the powers of taxation of a home rule government, which would have the ability to adopt a more modern and efficient system. It would be based on the needs of the municipality, provide for quality services and offer relief for the aging population.

Taxation would be limited at 30 mills; the current city millage is 18.99.