News & Insights

Here you’ll find the latest news and information about Keystone Municipal Solutions, along with timely and informative viewpoints from some of our KMS local government experts. Interested in learning more about a topic we’ve discussed here, or have an interesting local government issue you think we should touch on? Let us know! Drop us a line at info@keystonemunicipalsolutions.com. We want to hear from you!

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Be Early, Be Well Prepared, Be Successful

David Anthony

Jul 14, 20223 min read

Be Early, Be Well Prepared, Be Successful

"This isn't your mother's grant application." One of the first questions we often hear from newly elected officials is: “How do we...

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David Anthony

Jun 29, 20223 min read

Beavers Can Teach us a Lot

Watching a colony of beavers working tirelessly to hold back a section of water to preserve their home and livelihood is something that I...

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David Anthony

Jun 15, 20224 min read

One Word Can Make All the Difference

Back in the early 70s, my township completed the construction of a new sewage treatment plant. The discharge point approved by the...

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David Anthony

Jun 1, 20222 min read

What’s in Your Capital Plan?

One of the many tools that a municipality has in its tool chest is the ability to implement a CIP (Capital Improvement Plan). The...

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Pennsylvania Borough Successfully Exits Financially Distressed Status With Help from KMS

Brooke Queenan

Jun 1, 20222 min read

Pennsylvania Borough Successfully Exits Financially Distressed Status With Help from KMS

by Dan Connelly and Brooke Queenan Even before the COVID pandemic crisis, many municipalities across the Commonwealth were coping with...

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Tri-County Regional Planning Commission Releases Smart Growth Toolkit

David Kratzer

May 26, 20221 min read

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission Releases Smart Growth Toolkit

Land use control is jurisdictionally the purview of local government and represents one of its foundational responsibilities. To assist...

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KMS Develops Five Year Financial & Strategic Plan for Municipalities with Support from Grant Funds

David Kratzer

May 24, 20222 min read

KMS Develops Five Year Financial & Strategic Plan for Municipalities with Support from Grant Funds

Multi-year financial planning is a tool utilized by local governments to build fiscal capacity, avoid challenges, and communicate with...

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David Anthony

May 17, 20223 min read

Voting Time

In case you haven't noticed, it is election time. The local news channels bombard you with constant commercials expounding on the virtues...

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David Anthony

May 4, 20223 min read

Just What KMS Can Do For You

The challenge of municipal management is that significant change is almost always on the horizon. Given the state of employment in local...

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Timothy Horstmann - Ryan Gonder - David Kratzer

Apr 26, 20221 min read

ARPA Reporting due April 30, 2022!

The American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) was enacted in March 2021 providing an unprecedented $1.9 trillion in direct relief to combat the...

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David Anthony

Apr 20, 20223 min read

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

The daily news just isn't getting any better. Inflation and rising prices are hitting every home and business hard, and efforts to do...

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Adam Santucci

Apr 19, 20221 min read

2022 Department of Justice COPS Hiring Program Grant Funding Available

The United States Department of Justice has announced that it is now accepting grant applications for its Fiscal Year 2022 COPS Hiring...

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Alternatives to Tax-Exempt Advance Refundings Continue to Proliferate in Municipal Bond Market

Timothy Horstmann

Apr 8, 20221 min read

Alternatives to Tax-Exempt Advance Refundings Continue to Proliferate in Municipal Bond Market

Our friends at the McNees Public Sector blog recently posted an interesting article on advanced refundings in the municipal bond market. ...

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Can Your Municipality Transition Successfully?

David Anthony

Apr 6, 20223 min read

Can Your Municipality Transition Successfully?

When a municipality loses a key member of its administrative team, it can be devastating not only to the Board of Supervisors or Council...

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David Anthony

Mar 23, 20224 min read

How Are You Managed?

In northwest Pennsylvania, a township manager is an anomaly. If you look at the surrounding counties from Erie in any direction, you will...

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David Anthony

Mar 9, 20224 min read

You Can’t Win Them All

No matter how long you have served in some capacity for local government, at some point, you will undoubtedly make some residents...

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David Anthony

Feb 23, 20224 min read

Are You a Municipal Influencer?

Some of us older municipal managers may not know exactly what an influencer is nowadays. In days past, we might have considered them a...

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David Anthony

Feb 9, 20224 min read

Parking or Piled, You Have a Choice

From my perspective, at least, it appears that climate change may be having an impact on the weather and particularly snowfall. Northwest...

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David Anthony

Jan 26, 20223 min read

The New and Improved ARPA

by David Anthony Yes, there are more than 437 pages in the final rule distributed by the US Treasury regarding the implementation of the...

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David Anthony

Jan 5, 20224 min read

ARPA Spending, Perception

The American Recovery Plan Act or “ARPA” included the infusion of $6.15 billion in aid to Pennsylvania counties, cities, boroughs and...

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