GAZETTE THE CENTRE COUNTY
www.CentreCountyGazette.com
Love is in the air
It’s that time of year again — Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! Get ready for the special day with a gift guide and a list of things to do with your special someone in Centre County./Pages 16, 17
February 4-10, 2016
Volume 8, Issue 5
Officials still concerned with budget impasse
CENTRE COUNTY SPOTLIGHT
Dainty wears many hats in Bellefonte
By ALEXA LEWIS news@centrecountygazette.com
ment paid by those doing business within the district borders. When a business closes, the empty storefront is a constant reminder that economic development efforts will need to be launched to fill the space as quickly as possible. The DID works with the property owners to assure the best fit. Many casual observers may wonder why an area with a constant flow of student traffic and visitors would have even one empty storefront. However, a casual observer would probably not understand the revolution that is occurring in retail sales, including fierce competition from big box stores and a wide variety online retailers. “I am encouraged by the spirit of cooperation among the different groups responsible for Downtown State College,” said Arnold. “We
UNIVERSITY PARK — The ongoing state budget impasse has left county commissioners wondering what other financial issues could lay ahead. When Gov. Tom Wolf line-item vetoed the $30.3 billion GOP budget just after Christmas, it pushed forward nearly $24 billion in emergency funding to social services and school districts. But counties have still struggled to fund their children and youth services, beginning when the state changed how child welfare is appropriated in a “rebalancing” initiative in the the 2015-16 budget. Essentially, the state is allowed to shift a full quarter of reimbursements to the following fiscal year. What this has meant is that counties across the state never GOV. TOM WOLF received CYS reimbursements for the fourth quarter of the state’s 2014-15 fiscal year, which runs from April to June. “From the commissioners viewpoint, it’s more unfunded mandate where the state government is saying we are going to skip a quarter’s payment so we can balance the budget,” said commissioner Mark Higgins. Counties were left asking when and if they would receive reimbursement, said Chairman Michael Pipe. However, on Feb. 2 a spokesperson from the office of state Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Lock Haven, said the state will reimburse counties for the fourth quarter sometime around Sunday, Feb. 12. Denise Elbell, the acting county administrator, confirmed that the county was just notified about the reimbursement. But long-term planning is becoming more of a messy situation for the county’s staff, as irregular state funding is turning out to be the norm. “We need to be able to budget for a 12-month period for our CYS without any gimmicks,” Pipe said. “Because this impasse occurred well after the county property taxes last April, we’ve had to draw down a lot on our cash reserves.” Plus, a series of more than 20 state bills to improve child protection recently passed the Legislature and have resulted in increased CYS caseloads by more than 20 percent or more in some counties, Pipe said. That hikes up the costs quite a bit for a service that counties are required to provide and that the state is not funding on time. Fortunately for Centre County, it has an unassigned reserve fund of about $6 million, Elbell said. That does not mean the county likes dipping into that cushion to front money to cover CYS payments. To put things into perspective, the county typically receives about $2 million every quarter for CYS, Pipe said. “When we first learned there was going to be a budget impasse we were in a better position,” Pipe said. “Now we’re in the position where we are living pay check to pay check until we get state allocation.” Before Wolf sent out emergency funds, the county also took out a $10 million Tax and Revenue Anticipation Note to cover expenses instead of cutting
DID, Page 3
Budget, Page 3
By G. KERRY WEBSTER correspondent@centrecountygazette.com
BELLEFONTE — If there is a hat to be worn in Bellefonte, Vana Dainty has almost certainly tried it on. She’s been a salesperson, a newspaper editor, an accountant and a councilwoman. Now, she’s acting as Bellefonte’s Keystone Community Development coordinator, and she’s happy to be working in and for a town she loves so much. “I just love it here,” Dainty told The Centre County Gazette. “It’s a wonderful community to live and work. The people are good here and that’s why I care so much. I don’t think there is another place I’d like to live.” Dainty came to Centre County in 1989. She and her family had lived in the Florida Keys, but because of the rising drug trade in the southern United States, they decided to pack up and move north, to the Bellefonte area, where Dainty had friends and colleagues. “I came with a background in accounting,” said Dainty. “As soon as I arrived, I was offered a position at the Bargain Sheet where I eventually became general manager.” She worked with the publication for about four years before moving on to another publication — Central Pennsylvania Business Central. After a short stint with CPBC, she took a job in sales and purchasing in the computer field. “Looking back at it now, I sure did skip around a lot,” she said. “But, I think that was good for me because I got to meet a lot of people that opened several doors for me.” Dainty, Page 5
AMY ANSARI/The Gazette
TAKING SHAPE: The Fraser Centre in downtown State College will have a significant economic impact on the area, according to the Downtown Improvement District.
Downtown Improvement District works for a safe, prosperous State College By HARRY ZIMBLER correspondent@centrecountygazette.com
TIM WEIGHT/For the Gazette
HOMETOWN PROUD: Vana Dainty is Bellefonte’s Keystone Community Development coordinator. “I think there’s a lot of great potential in Bellefonte,” Dainty said. Police ................................ 2 Opinion ............................ 7
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STATE COLLEGE — It takes constant monitoring to keep up with the constant ebb and flow of retail and professional organizations in downtown State College, and that is part of the mission of the Downtown Improvement District. DID executive director George Arnold is at the forefront of a multifaceted initiative to enhance the economic environment in the downtown while jealously guarding the quality of life for the many businesses and professional services located in the district. The boundaries of the DID extend from Atherton Street to Sowers Street and College Avenue to Highland Alley. Within that area there are 75 restaurants and eateries, 75 retail stores and 250 professional service entities. The DID is funded by an assess-
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