Gov. Corbett Begins State Takeover Of Harrisburg's Finances

HARRISBURG (KDKA/AP) -- Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has started a state takeover of Harrisburg.

According to the Associated Press, he declared a fiscal emergency in the city.

On Friday, he signed a law that gives him control over the city's finances.

That came after Harrisburg's City Council rejected the state's financial recovery plan.

Meanwhile, the mayor and the City Council are unable to agree on a strategy to repay the city's approximately $300 million debt tied to the city's trash incinerator.

The likelihood of the Republican governor's takeover hastened a move by a divided City Council to file a Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition in federal court earlier this month. Opponents of the takeover law say it is unconstitutional.