Harrisburg RFP Gets Bids

Harrisburg last week received four responses to its request for proposals to assist in compiling its long-awaited 2009 audit, as well as its 2010 audit.

Mayor Linda Thompson is expected to announce Monday the selected auditing firm.

City officials anticipate work on the audits will last six to seven weeks, the RFP said.

Most states and municipalities release final audits a few months after the close of a fiscal or calendar year. There is speculation that Harrisburg’s slowness in releasing its 2009 audit prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission in November to request bond-related documents that the city provides to investors.

The city has said that understaffing has prohibited it from completing the 2009 audit on time.

Harrisburg has ongoing fiscal challenges. It struggled to meet payroll and general obligation debt service costs in the third and fourth quarters of 2010.

The city, which does not have a credit rating, also guarantees $242 million of incinerator debt that it has failed to make principal and interest payments on, as the facility itself does not generate enough revenue to cover such costs.

Holders of the incinerator debt have been paid from debt-service reserve funds, co-guarantor Dauphin County, and bond insurer Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp.

Harrisburg’s troubles have sparked debate over whether the city should declare bankruptcy in order to get out from under the $242 million of incinerator debt.

Cravath, Swaine, and Moore LLP earlier this month advised the City Council to negotiate an agreement with the stakeholders of the incinerator bonds before filing for Chapter 9.

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