THE ISSUE
“The American Rescue Plan Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2021, sent billions of dollars to local governments across the country. While Lancaster County and Lancaster city got direct payments under the program, 59 municipalities in the county received a portion of the $6.15 billion the federal government tasked Pennsylvania with distributing,” LNP | LancasterOnline’s Jade Campos reported last Sunday. “On average, townships and boroughs in the county reaped $850,000 from the program, with more densely populated municipalities like Manheim Township getting proportionally larger shares. The money can be used only for specific expenses, such as funding transportation projects and replacing lost tax revenue; governments are required to finalize their spending plans by the end of this year, and all money must be spent by the end of 2026.”
People like to complain about government spending. But who’s going to complain about a stormwater infrastructure project that will reduce flooding in East Earl Township? Or fire company building improvements in East Petersburg Borough? Or more resources for emergency responders in Adamstown Borough?
The excellent reporting by Jade Campos and data journalists Nate Willison and Sarah Nicell illuminated the many uses to which federal pandemic recovery money was put in Lancaster County. The online version of the story includes interactive graphics; it is the kind of journalism that only an excellent community newspaper can deliver.
It’s important that we get to see where the federal funds went. It’s taxpayer money, after all. And it’s heartening to learn that it was used to make our communities better, especially as we continue to recover from a pandemic that severely strained local government resources.
East Cocalico Township invested more than $62,000 in its innovative Farmers Saving Soil and Stopping Sediment program, which aims to encourage local farmers to practice environmentally friendly farming techniques such as no-till planting to prevent sediment runoff. Lorenzo Bonura, chairman of the East Cocalico supervisors, was right when he said the program is a “huge accomplishment for such a small community.” Kudos to everyone who got it off the ground (pun intended).
Municipalities such as East Lampeter Township, Mount Joy Township, Akron Borough and West Earl Township used the rescue plan money to upgrade their information technology systems.
Clay Township gave $5,000 to the nearby Ephrata Public Library. We’ve repeatedly made clear our belief that public libraries provide essential services to their communities, so good going, Clay Township.
Manheim Township, Mount Joy Township, Leacock Township, East Donegal Township, Elizabethtown Borough, Little Britain Township, Manor Township and Salisbury Township made sizable investments in their recreational facilities, including a turf field, refurbished pickleball and basketball courts, new playground equipment and other park upgrades. Recreational facilities shouldn’t be a luxury for the few — these investments will improve the well-being of local residents and attract new taxpayers to these communities. Recreation helps to keep children and adults physically and mentally healthy.
Pequea Township officials allocated $78,000 to resurface Shultz Road this year, a project that Campos reported has been “years in the making.” As that township’s supervisors Chair Harry Lehman pointed out, the project was only going to get more expensive the longer it was delayed.
Campos reported that Lancaster County’s “largest infrastructure project using rescue plan funding is East Hempfield Township’s effort to widen a 1.5-mile stretch of Centerville Road to five lanes. The township has dedicated $2.5 million in federal rescue funds toward the $36.3 million project, set to be completed in July 2025.” Anyone who has driven on that busy road knows how welcome that improvement will be.
We were, however, disappointed that Providence Township — alone among Lancaster County municipalities — elected not to use any of its rescue plan funds. In 2022, the township’s three Republican supervisors rejected its entire $738,755 allotment.
Supervisor J. Pepper Goslin said Providence Township didn’t need the federal rescue plan money and didn’t want to follow the rules regarding how it could be spent. The board “strives to spend taxpayers’ money wisely, as (if) it was our own money,” Goslin said at a December township meeting.
So there are no roads or other infrastructure — or first responders serving Providence Township — that could have used the federal money? Couldn’t at least the township’s bare-bones website, with its blurry photo of a municipal building and a farm and some grazing horses, have used an upgrade?
As LNP | LancasterOnline reported in February, a pipe collapsed at the Groff trailhead on the recreational Enola Low Grade Rail Trail, requiring Providence Township to split the repair bill with its neighbor, Quarryville Borough. Officials said they were trying to keep the costs of digging a trench and replacing the collapsed pipe below $26,000.
We imagine that the federal rescue plan money could have come in handy. But Providence Township officials were clearly trying to make a political point by returning the American Rescue Plan Act funds. We wish they had instead prioritized the needs of their community. Their decision was shortsighted.
Another disappointment: the relative lack of federal rescue plan money that went toward easing this county’s serious affordable housing shortage.
As Campos and her colleagues reported, “Lancaster Township is the only municipality in the county to put money toward housing initiatives, aside from Lancaster city, which invested millions in affordable housing, and the county, which put nearly $5 million toward housing projects.”
Lancaster Township Manager William “Bill” Laudien said its rescue plan funds will pay for home repairs for low- to moderate-income homeowners. Residents can apply to receive a match of up to $2,500. This should make a real difference to those who qualify.
Homelessness is increasing in Lancaster County, rental costs are high and home prices are surging.
As Andrew Szalay, CEO and president of Lancaster Lebanon Habitat for Humanity, writes in today’s Perspective section, first-time homebuyers are facing high mortgage interest rates and a scarcity of homes in their price range.
And when a developer tries to build multifamily housing — such as the $55 million apartment complex, now under construction, next to the Route 30 New Holland Avenue on-ramp in Manheim Township — neighbors object.
We don’t yet know how much those apartments will cost to rent. But we do know that Lancaster County — not just Lancaster city — needs a broader array of housing options if local employers are going to be able to attract workers and our economy is going to continue to thrive. Then there’s the moral imperative to enable people to find safe, well-built homes.
So we would have liked to have seen more rescue plan money invested in housing. It was a missed opportunity.
The need isn’t going away. And it shouldn’t take a pandemic, or pandemic recovery money, to address it.
