Harrisburg, Pa., officially has a balanced budget after City Council members passed a resolution on Oct. 28 to add savings from a months-long hiring freeze to offset expenses.
The council voted to add the savings from the hiring freeze into the budget and to include increased revenue from the city's earned income tax, reducing what had been an almost $4 million deficit.
"This is one of the most important actions that the City Council has taken this year," Mayor Eric Papenfuse said.
Harrisburg, on the verge of bankruptcy late last year, crafted a recovery plan that erased $600 million of debt.
Shortly after taking office in January, Papenfuse instituted the hiring freeze when he realized city revenues were not keeping pace with expenses. The mayor allowed only essential positions in city government to be filled to close the budget gap.
