'Borough on the Brink'

The Pottstown Mercury is running a two-day series examing the dire future facing small communities like Pottstown, a former industrial town on the western edge of Montgomery County that hasn't been able to figure out where it wants to go.

High taxes, a transient population and inept local government have combined to lead Pottstown to the "brink," according to a story by reporter Evan Brandt, who has been covering the borough for more than a decade.

From Brandt's story:

Property taxes going up 75 percent. Water rates increasing by 25 percent, and sewer rates jumping 19 percent. And that is the scenario with no employee raises or capital investment.

That is Pottstown's future five years from now if the borough does not change the way it does business, according to a long-awaited consultant's report examining the borough's finances and functions over the past several months.

Presented to borough council last Monday night, the 141-page report was written by the Cincinnati-based firm of Management Partners Inc. and was prepared with a grant from the state's Early Intervention Program, designed to help struggling municipalities stave off financial disaster.

According to the report, disaster is but a few bad decisions away, starting with a tax rate that jumps from the current 5.2 mills to a millage of 9.08.

"Clearly, we're not saying that's tolerable," said Julia D. Novak, the consultant's regional vice president.

Read the full story, "Report to Pottstown: Taxes could go up 75%" at The Mercury's Web site.