The City of Williamsport’s comprehensive financial “Action Plan” is in full swing as city officials prepare for costly expenses such as the next City Hall location, debt repayments, and borrowing scenarios.

Mayor Derek Slaughter, in consultation with the City Council, is working with Public Financial Management Group Consulting LLC (PFM), a Philadelphia-based consulting firm to work on its renewed strategic financial management plan. The initial professional services agreement approval was reported in a prior Sun-Gazette story, but there have been updates since then about the progress.

“My administration has worked tirelessly to get our city’s financial house back in order, and we have made tremendous progress,” Slaughter said in a statement. “With audits nearly caught up and our ongoing collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) to update our five-year financial strategic plan, we continue to make strides towards a stable financial future. We are fortunate to be working with such a well-respected firm in PFM to complete this critical update, reinforcing our commitment to responsible fiscal management and long-term financial health,” he said.

PFM financial specialists will work over the course of an expected nine months or less to provide a deep-dive analysis done in three phases. That process was determined by a question from Councilman Jon Mackey who asked what was next.“We will come to you with an analysis of trends and what we see as the main drivers,” said Gordon Mann of PFM.

It’s not a matter of whether the firm questions if Williamsport has financial challenges, because the consultants know that is the case.

“I am sure it will show revenues are less than expenditures. It always does,” Mann said.

“Some of these immediate needs, however, including seeking a balanced budget, is where the funding is coming from for a project like City Hall.”

“How do you pay for it? How does it fit in with the other needs, with the revenue limitations and operational challenges that exist?” Mann asked, then brought up the City Hall matter when he was introduced.

“It is not just a budget balancing exercise, although that is important,” Mann said of the consultant’s strategy for the city.

“We are aware of the challenges and opportunities. We have worked with a variety of other communities with similar circumstances and worked with the county and commissioners,” he said.

PFM has worked with cities, municipalities and counties facing similar financial and strategic challenges such as, but not limited to, Chester, Erie, and Lycoming County.

Any multi-million dollar deficit questions will be examined for Williamsport officials.

“The question will be if there are deficits, how large are they, how fast do they grow, what drives them?” Mann asked.

He said the company will take a look at the recent historical financial picture, looking back four to five years and also what the picture looks like in the future.

Another phase of the PFM work will be to meet with some of the department directors and find out the city government story that can’t be seen on a spreadsheet or government document.

“What do people do, how do they do it, does it align with the vision of elected leaders?”

Also, “can the operation of city government be done more efficiently? What should stop or be started?” Mann asked.

The last part of the effort will take the mathematical quantitative analysis done in the first phase, add what has been observed in the second phase and return an analysis that shows the challenges, opportunities and recommendations for over the next five years.

This could include ideas the firm recommends be engaged in immediately for 2026, things to put into the budget operationally and those longer-term or on the horizon over the next five years, some tied to specific dates and some not, Mann said.

The company’s approximate $121,000 contract, which went public with details on the city website, describes goals and explains how the city cost is 10 % or $12,000 while the state picks up the remainder of the cost of the plan.

Currently, the 2025 city general fund budget included a one-third-of-a-mill .33 mills tax increase and a half-mill the year before. A mill is listed in the 2025 budget as $861,055.