Pa. Primary 2026: Williamsport voters will be asked to approve home rule study commission

Williamsport voters on Tuesday will be asked to approve a seven-member commission that would study the city's form of government.

If approved, the home rule study commission would have nine months to develop recommendations. Its recommendations would then be presented to the public for review and a final vote in 2027.

All registered voters in the city are eligible to vote yes or no on the question, regardless of party affiliation.

Advocates say adopting home rule would give Williamsport greater control over local decisions such as zoning, taxation, and public services.

The vote comes as the city has struggled financially in recent years, with growing annual deficits.

But advocates also stress that Tuesday's vote is only on whether to create the commission that would study the issue.

"If you vote yes, we do the study. It's at no cost," said J. David Smith, a former city and Lycoming County solicitor and one of the seven candidates vying for seven commission seats.

The commission would undertake the study with help from a consultant financed by a state grant, according to the Williamsport Home Rule website.

"If you don't like the study and its recommendations, you come back to the polls [in 2027] and you say no, and nothing's been lost," Smith told WVIA News.

Opponents on social media and elsewhere have raised concerns about changing the structure of city government and the possibility of subjecting residents to higher income taxes.

What is home rule?

Home rule allows municipalities powers beyond what they normally would have under state law. One of the key powers is the ability to set property and personal income tax rates above what state law allows.

Home rule also would allow for changing the structure of local government, such as the number of council members and whether the city continues having a mayor or opts for another form of executive, such as a city manager in place of a strong mayor.

It does so by giving communities a chance to adopt their own charter, or "local constitution."

"The basic concept of home rule is relatively simple. The basic authority to act in municipal affairs is transferred from state law, as set forth by the General Assembly, to a local charter, adopted and amended by the voters," according to a document published by the state Department of Economic and Community Affairs (DCED).

"Local governments without home rule can only act where specifically authorized by state law; home rule municipalities can act anywhere except where they are specifically limited by state law," DCED says.

Placing a home rule study commission on the ballot starts with either an ordinance of the municipal governing body or a petition of the registered voters of the municipality.

In Williamsport's case, City Council passed a resolution in December 2025 to put the study commission vote on this month's primary ballot.

"I think it's important to note that when we voted on getting this on the ballot, it was a 7-0 vote," City Councilman Jonah Milliken said.

"This is a non-partisan thing," said Milliken, a Democrat. "For the record, our city council is four Republicans and three Democrats."

The slate of candidates includes one council member, Liz Miele, and a representative of the city's administration, Director of Community and Economic Development Valerie Fessler.

Mayor Derek Slaughter, a Democrat, said he encourages voters "to do their own homework" before voting.

He sees increased financial flexibility as a benefit of home rule but said he does not favor changing the structure of city government.

City of Williamsport Five-Year Financial Management Plan

/

PFM Group Consulting, LLC

What is Williamsport's financial situation?

Council's resolution, signed by Slaughter, says "the transition to Home Rule is recommended in order to increase the city's financial stability, decrease its dependency on property taxes, diversify its opportunities for taxation, and provide the city with better local control over governance."

That recommendation comes from DCED and Philadelphia-based Public Financial Management (PFM), a consultant that has been assessing Williamsport's finances after the city sought technical assistance from the state under its Strategic Management Planning Program.

PFM's five-year financial management plan for the city, issued in January 2026, says Williamsport’s revenues haven't been growing enough to cover the city’s growing costs, resulting in a structural deficit — meaning a deficit happens year after year because expenses consistently exceed revenues.

The consultant's report predicts that Williamsport's annual deficit could grow to $6.4 million by 2030.

PFM cited seven key trends driving the city's financial performance. As they wrote:

● "The real estate (or property) tax revenues that account for more than half of the city’s budget, only grow when the tax rate does."

● "While earned income (or wage) tax revenues have grown in recent years, this tax generates a relatively small portion of the city’s total revenues. Williamsport needs to get more revenue — both in dollars and as a percentage of the budget — from this source."

● "The city can no longer use ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding to pay for operations, as it did in recent years."

● "Total cash compensation paid to city government employees (the largest share of total spending) grew faster than tax revenues (the largest share of total revenues) over the last five years."

● "In recent years, the city has benefited from very modest growth in employee health insurance and pension costs. The city needs to monitor and manage these costs carefully since they can quickly add to projected deficits in the baseline."

● "The city was on track to spend less than budgeted on operating expenses in 2025, as has historically been the case. Improving budget accuracy in this area would reduce the projected deficits, but it would not close them. The structural deficit cannot be solved by simply budgeting more accurately."

● "The city will need more capital investments beyond what’s included in the baseline, and it will eventually need to issue debt to finance those needs, especially large projects, like a new police headquarters."

PFM says the city needs to increase revenue, and one of the key options would be to gain more local control over the resident earned income tax (EIT) rate through home rule.

Without home rule, "the only lever we have to adjust revenue if we wanted to increase revenue, the only mechanism we have to do that is by increasing property taxes," Councilman Milliken said.

Home rule "opens the door to different types of revenue streams," he added.

Smith, a Republican, agreed.

"Williamsport is primarily renter-occupied as opposed to owner-occupied. And in terms of the ownership of property, some of the biggest properties are held by nonprofits, which, by law, are not taxable through the real estate process," he said.

"It's a problem that has been lingering for a number of years," Smith said. "Recently, there have been some band aids, and I think now it's time to rip the band aid off and face this problem head on."

Slaughter said personnel costs are about 80% of the city's budget, and that will continue to be a consideration regardless of what voters choose on Tuesday.

"Do you raise taxes? Do you cut personnel? Do you cut services? Do you do a little bit of everything across the board?" Slaughter said.

"Even if home rule does pass, it's not like that's the magic button that's going to fix everything," he said. "We're still going to have difficult decisions to make as we look at costs and services moving forward."

What Williamsport is not facing right now is Act 47 distressed city status, the mayor said.

"I mean, it's not imminent. I can't sit here and say it's never going to happen," he said.

But that raises other questions: Slaughter expressed frustration that the wide range of financial tools granted to cities under Act 47 are not otherwise available to cities. He also acknowledged that this is a larger question for the legislature to take up.

Who else uses home rule?

More than 80 municipalities across Pennsylvania have adopted home rule charters. They include the cities of Scranton, Carbondale, Nanticoke, Pittston and Wilkes-Barre in this corner of the state.

What happens if voters reject the commission?

The plan doesn't move forward, and the city will need to work with its consultant on other financial strategies.

Smith raised one caution: If the study commission plan is rejected — as happened in 2017 — the city could not put home rule before voters again for five years.

"It's at no cost, and if you don't like the study and its recommendations, you come back to the polls, and you say no, and nothing's been lost," Smith said. "If you say no, however, then you've closed the door on the possibility of looking into alternatives."