The Sun-Gazette has done a pretty good job of covering the potential takeover of the Williamsport Sanitary Authority and the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority by the Mayor’s Office. Here are a few questions that are still unanswered.

1. What will happen to the Authority assets outside of the city limits? The Water Authority especially, has the reservoirs, the water treatment plant, pump stations, and a significant distribution system in other municipalities. Is it legal for the City to own property in other municipalities? That is one of the reasons why authorities are formed in the first place. Since this scheme is all about making profit for the city, will this property in other municipalities then become taxable?

2. As I understand it, the City will lease these properties to the Authorities to create a cash flow to the city. This will inevitably lead to a rate increase to the customers. In essence this is a “stealth tax” by the City. Will the customers in South Williamsport, DuBoistown, Old Lycoming Township, Loyalsock Township, and other municipalities be paying this tax to Williamsport? In the days of the Roman Empire, this was known as “Tribute” to the Emperor.

3. One of the Sun-Gazette articles mentioned that the deeds for properties and easements will be transferred to the City. If this is true, this will be an enormous undertaking. There are probably thousands and thousands of deeds that will need to be transferred. This is likely to result in enormous legal costs and take a significant amount of time. Who is paying for that? Some well-connected lawyers are going to make a ton of money.

4. The Water and Sanitary Authorities have been doing a pretty good job of operating and maintaining their systems and providing quick response to emergencies. Is this going to deteriorate once the City starts skimming money from them?

5. Mayor Campana’s term expires at the end of 2019. This narcissistic undertaking will surely not be complete by then. What if he is not re-elected, and his successor thinks differently? It’ll be the Montoursville High School all over again, but bigger and nastier.

Fred Johnson

Muncy

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom