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Commonwealth Failing Chester
and DCED Newsroom website posting, Wolf Administration Issues Declaration of Fiscal Emergency for the City of Chester: https://dced.pa.gov/newsroom/wolf-administration-issues-declaration-of-fiscal-emergency-for-the-city-of-chester/
[2] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pg. 40: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469
[3] – While the City of Chester has purchased water from the CWA, it has done so as a customer, and not as a source of capital contributions. As a customer, the City of Chester owes the CWA significant amounts of money going back several years for water and fire hydrant service.
[4] – The secret meetings between the DCED and Aqua were discovered through right-to-know-requests served on the DCED. See https://www.delcotimes.com/business/chester-water-authority-sale-discussed-for-months-emails-show/article_de6b8034-027f-525c-82af-6d28963d7508.html, http://chesterspirit.com/2017/11/collusion-catania-docs-show-state-aqua-plotted-a-cwa-takeover/, and https://chesterwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Email-Update-No-8.pdf (pg. 21 of PDF is an April 24, 2017 Email from Dan Schuller from Aqua to Dan Connelly, Act 47 Coordinator, regarding a meeting held with Aqua, for which other documents show Schuller billed 2 hours for).
[5] – Information about Aqua’s offer and other information about the fight for the CWA can be found at: https://chesterwater.com/about-cwa/cwa-sale/ and http://chesterwater.com/savecwa/.
[6] – Collections of links to Resolutions and Letters of Support at http://chesterwater.com/savecwa/.
[7] – Ticker showing that CWA ratepayers have saved over $130 million (as of 9/15/2020) by not paying Aqua rates since May of 2017, https://chesterwater.com/
[8] – City of Chester Financial Statements for the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Financial Statements at pg. 27, https://emma.msrb.org/EP1027421-ES810387-ES1211793.pdf; City of Chester Financial Statements and Independent Auditor’s Report (“Audited Financial Statements”) for the Year Ended December 31, 2012 at pg. 27, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1036212-ES810053-ES1211462.pdf; 2013 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 26, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1036164-ES810049-ES1211458.pdf; 2014 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 26, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1036214-ES810036-ES1211441.pdf; 2015 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 25, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf; 2016 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 24, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf; 2017 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 24, https://emma.msrb.org/RE1363055-RE1059360-RE1468872.pdf.
[9] – 2020 Letter of Dennis M. Davin responding to questions raised by Chester County Commissioners. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SMgxNkXwuvPKEJ_dTrlTd6NnXJteE7xK/view.
[10] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pg. 8: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469
[11] – While the Receiver contends that the City could potentially receive between $60 million and $410 million if it sells the CWA (id. at 8), he fails to account for the fact that if a sale were to occur, the proceeds from any sale would need to be split between the City of Chester, Chester County, Delaware County, and the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. See January 16, 2020 Transcript of Hearing in CWA v. City of Chester, Del. Cty. C.C.P., No. 19-000217, Testimony of City of Chester CFO, Nafis J. Nichols, at pgs. 158-159.
[12] – In response to Right to Know Requests to the City of Chester requesting documents showing the invoices received and amounts paid to its law firms, the City of Chester has stated that no such documents exist. If the City is not paying these high-priced national law firms, who is?
[13] – Electronic Municipal Market Access, Chester PA, https://emma.msrb.org/IssuerHomePage/Issuer?id=18C5BE201522BBA347A13823C1B94941, with last posted audited financial statements as of December 31, 2017, which were posted 2 ½ years later on July 6, 2020.
[14] – City of Chester, Act 47 Exit Plan, Adopted (2018-10-10) at pg. 7, Sec 2.2 (“For several years, Chester achieved significant improvement in its operating results and fund balance position due in large part to new income associated with gaming activity at Harrah’s Racetrack and Casino. However, from 2013 through 2016, Chester ran operating deficits. In 2014, the City began delaying health insurance premium payments and substantial portions of its minimum municipal obligation (MMO) in order to meet payroll. To accurately portray the General Fund condition, all health care and MMO obligations are included in the expenditures, regardless of whether these expenses were actually funded in the year the expense was incurred. By the end of 2013, as the City’s fund balance had dropped to $1.9 million and accelerated to over -$23.0 million by 2016, primarily as a result of outstanding pension MMO and health insurance expenses. At the end of 2016, the City defaulted on its 2016 Tax and Revenue Anticipation Note.”) https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-act-47-exit-plan-adopted-2018-10-10/?wpdmdl=88894
[15] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pg. 11: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469.
[16] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pg. 11: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469.
[17] – Chester Credit Rating Suspended, February 21, 2014, Delco Times, https://www.delcotimes.com/business/chester-credit-rating-suspended/article_27195d6a-813c-55a2-a5cd-b446156454e9.html.
[18] – City of Chester’s 2016 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 40, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf; 2017 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 40, https://emma.msrb.org/RE1363055-RE1059360-RE1468872.pdf.
[19] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pg. 11: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469
[20] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pg. 17: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469
[21] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pg. 17: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469
[22] – January 19, 2012 Dissenting Opinion of Arbitrator for City of Chester in American Arbitration Association Case No. 14-360-L-01-351-11-02-ALVA-C.
[23] – City of Chester, Act 47 Exit Plan, Adopted (2018-10-10) at pg. 13, Sec. 3.1., https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-act-47-exit-plan-adopted-2018-10-10/?wpdmdl=88894
[24] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pg. 15: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469; see also id. at pg. 37, n.11 to Figure 4.6: General Fund Expenses by Category, 2019-2024 (“Though categorized as ‘debt reduction,’ the obligations here are not debt in the traditional sense. These are obligations carried over from prior years, like unpaid vendor bills or past due federal tax withholdings.”), and pg. 40 (“Figure 4.6 shows $1.95 million in “debt reduction” expenditures in 2019 and another $4.0 million in 2020. That is not repaying debt in the traditional sense – that is paying obligations carried over from prior years, like unpaid vendor bills or past due federal tax withholdings.”)
[25] – Rule 15c2-12 Disclosure, dated 07/24/2017, Failure to Provide Notice That Financial Statements Would Be Delayed, https://emma.msrb.org/EP1027431-EP789684-EP1191336.pdf
[26] – City of Chester’s 2014 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 4, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1036214-ES810036-ES1211441.pdf; 2015 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 4, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf; 2016 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 4, https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf; 2017 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 4, https://emma.msrb.org/RE1363055-RE1059360-RE1468872.pdf..
[27] – City of Chester’s 2013 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 2 (Summary of Opinion Units): https://emma.msrb.org/ES1036164-ES810049-ES1211458.pdf
[28] – City of Chester’s 2014 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 2 (Basis for Modified Opinion) and (Emphasis of Matter Regarding Going Concern – Component Units): https://emma.msrb.org/ES1036214-ES810036-ES1211441.pdf
[29] – City of Chester’s 2015 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 2 (Basis for Modified Opinion) and (Emphasis of Matter Regarding Going Concern): https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf
[30] – City of Chester’s 2016 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 2 (Basis for Modified Opinion) and (Emphasis of Matters – Regarding Going Concern), and, at pg. 3 (Emphasis of Matters – Prior Period Restatement): https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf
[31] – City of Chester’s 2017 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 2 (Basis for Qualified Opinions) and (Emphasis of Matters – Regarding Going Concern), and, at pg. 3 (Emphasis of Matters – Restatement): https://emma.msrb.org/RE1363055-RE1059360-RE1468872.pdf
[32] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester, Pgs. 9, 80: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469
[33] – City of Chester’s 2013 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 60 (-7.38%), https://emma.msrb.org/ES1036164-ES810049-ES1211458.pdf; 2014 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 61 (-18.84%), https://emma.msrb.org/ES1036214-ES810036-ES1211441.pdf; 2015 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 64 (-9.35%), https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf; 2016 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 61 (-12.05%), https://emma.msrb.org/ES1152642-ES901384-ES1302598.pdf; 2017 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 62 (-7.2% ), https://emma.msrb.org/RE1363055-RE1059360-RE1468872.pdf.
[34] – City of Chester’s 2011 Financial Statements at pg. 15 (Total Liabilities Government Funds $4,010,105) and pg. 62 (Total Expenditures of $40,379,0006), https://emma.msrb.org/EP1027421-ES810387-ES1211793.pdf, compared to 2017 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 13 (Total Liabilities Government Funds $25,045,803) and pg. 62 (Total Expenditures of $47,690,111), https://emma.msrb.org/RE1363055-RE1059360-RE1468872.pdf.
[35] – Compare City of Chester 2011 Financial Statements at pg. 62 (Schedule of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balances Budget and Actual – General Fund for the Year Ended December 31, 2011)(Fund Balance Beginning listed as $10,418,538): https://emma.msrb.org/EP1027421-ES810387-ES1211793.pdf, with, City of Chester 2017 Audited Financial Statements at pg. 62 (Schedule of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balances Budget and Actual – General Fund for the Year Ended December 31, 2017)(Fund Balance Ending listed as $(15,344,588)): https://emma.msrb.org/RE1363055-RE1059360-RE1468872.pdf
[36] – City of Chester, Act 47 Exit Plan, Adopted (2018-10-10) at pg. 48, Sec. 7.0, https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-act-47-exit-plan-adopted-2018-10-10/?wpdmdl=88894.
[37] – City of Chester, Act 47 Exit Plan, Adopted (2018-10-10) at pg. 48, Sec. 7.0, https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-act-47-exit-plan-adopted-2018-10-10/?wpdmdl=88894.
[38] – Receiver’s Recovery Plan for City of Chester: https://dced.pa.gov/download/chester-city-receiver-recovery-plan-2020-08-20/?wpdmdl=103816&ind=1597957980469, at pg. 9 (“As noted earlier, the potential use of asset sale proceeds to address the pension problem depends on contemporaneous changes to the benefit levels and actions taken to stop abuse of provisions like the disability pensions. Otherwise we will just bail water on a sinking ship without fixing the hole in the bottom of it.”), and pg. 24 (“Other cities in Pennsylvania have sold assets without addressing the underlying structural issues, which only provided temporary relief and are now facing the same fiscal shortfalls that existed before the sale of the asset. This does not serve the taxpayers or other stakeholders. The underlying structural issues must be addressed, and it is the Receiver’s intent to do so by working with all stakeholders and taking all necessary and difficult actions to make the City fiscally viable once again.”)
[39] – Townships and Municipalities Served by the CWA: http://www.chesterwater.com/resources.html
