Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

General information

Mayor:| Wanda Williams
Mayor party:| Democratic
Last mayoral election:| 2021
Next mayoral election:| 2025
Last city council election:| 2021
Next city council election:| 2023
City council seats:| 7
City website
Composition data (2019)
Population:| 49,209
Race:| White 34.9%
African American 51.5%
Asian 4.6%
Native American 0.5%
Pacific Islander 0.0%
Two or more 4.1%
Ethnicity:| Hispanic 21.8%
Median household income:| $39,685
High school graduation rate:| 79.6%
College graduation rate:| 22.1%
Related Harrisburg offices
Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation
Pennsylvania State Legislature
Pennsylvania state executive offices

Harrisburg is a city in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The city's population was 50,099 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...

* Mayor
* City council
* Other elected officials
* Elections
* Census information
* Budget
* Contact information
* Ballot measures

## Contents

* 1 City government
* 1.1 Mayor
* 1.2 City council
* 1.3 Other elected officials
* 2 Elections
* 2.1 2021
* 3 Census information
* 4 Budget
* 4.1 Fiscally standardized cities data
* 4.1.1 Historical total revenue and expenditure
* 5 Contact information
* 6 Ballot measures
* 7 See also
* 8 External links
* 9 Footnotes

## City government[edit]

See also: Mayor-council government

The city of Harrisburg utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[1][2][3]

### Mayor[edit]

The mayor is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the mayor include proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors and committee members, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also possesses veto powers and represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[1][2] The current Mayor of Harrisburg is Wanda Williams (D). Williams assumed office in 2022.

### City council[edit]

The Harrisburg City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[2][3]

The city council is made up of seven members. Each member is elected at large to a four-year term.[2]

* Click here for a current list of council members

Office | Name | Party | Date assumed office | Date term ends

|
|
|
|

Harrisburg City Council | Danielle Bowers | Democratic  | October 9, 2018 | January 1, 2024
Harrisburg City Council | Shamaine Daniels | Democratic  | 2014 | January 5, 2026
Harrisburg City Council | Ausha Green | Democratic  | 2018 | January 5, 2026
Harrisburg City Council | Dave Madsen | Democratic  | 2017 | January 1, 2024
Harrisburg City Council | Westburn Majors | Democratic  | January 4, 2016 | January 1, 2024
Harrisburg City Council | Jocelyn Rawls | Democratic  | January 3, 2022 | January 5, 2026
Harrisburg City Council | Ralph Rodriguez | Democratic  | January 3, 2022 | January 5, 2026

### Other elected officials[edit]

Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

## Elections[edit]

### 2021[edit]

See also: City elections in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (2021) and Mayoral election in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (2021)

The city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 2, 2021. A primary was scheduled for May 18, 2021. The filing deadline for the primary was March 9, 2021, and the filing deadline for the general election was August 2, 2021.

## Census information[edit]

The table below shows demographic information about the city.

Demographic Data for Harrisburg (2020)

| Harrisburg
Population | 49,247
Land area (sq mi) | 8
Race and ethnicity**
White | 34.3%
Black/African American | 51.7%
Asian | 3.3%
Native American | 0.6%
Pacific Islander | 0%
Two or more | 4.8%
Hispanic/Latino | 23.6%
Education
High school graduation rate | 81.5%
College graduation rate | 22.6%
Income
Median household income | $41,831
Persons below poverty level | 26.5%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020)
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

## Budget[edit]

The city's budget process operates by calendar fiscal years running from January 1 to December 31 of each year. The city's Bureau of Financial Management is tasked with compiling the budget. The budget is presented to the mayor, who meets with various departments and staff to evaluate and solve any budget gaps. The mayor presents the proposed budget to the city council at the last legislative meeting in November, after which it is subject to public comment. The city council is required to adopt the budget by December 31.[1]

### Fiscally standardized cities data[edit]

The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[4]

“  |

FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[5]

| ”

|
|

—Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[6]

The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.

| Revenue in 2017

Revenue type | Amount
Total Revenue | $363,809,860
General Revenue | $354,512,910
Federal Aid | $39,327,766
State Aid | $139,952,855
Tax Revenue | $115,180,001
Charges & Misc. General Revenue | $60,051,797
Utility Revenue | $3,295,507
Liquor Store Revenue | $0
Employee Retirement Trust Revenue | $6,001,443

| Expenditures in 2017

Expenditure type | Amount
Total Expenditures | $410,978,101
General Expenditures | $391,103,762
Education Services Expenditure | $119,535,657
Social Services and Income Maintenance Expenditure | $45,424,110
Transportation Expenditure | $14,105,480
Public Safety Expenditure | $38,972,252
Environment and Housing Expenditure | $115,001,998
Governmental Administration Expenditure | $26,654,666
Interest on General Debt | $22,622,562
Miscellaneous Expenditure | $8,786,545
Utility Expenditure | $3,550,710
Liquor Store Expenditure | $0
Employee Retirement Trust Expenditure | $3,234,042
Intergovernmental Expenditures | $13,089,095

#### Historical total revenue and expenditure[edit]

To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[4]

## Contact information[edit]

Mayor's office
10 N. 2nd St. Suite 202
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717-255-3040

City Clerk's office
10 N. 2nd St Suite 305
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717-255-3060

Click here for city council contact information.

## Ballot measures[edit]

See also: Dauphin County, Pennsylvania ballot measures

The city of Harrisburg is in Dauphin County. A list of ballot measures in Dauphin County is available here.

## See also[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* Cities in Pennsylvania
* Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

## External links[edit]

* City of Harrisburg
* Office of the Mayor
* Harrisburg City Council
* City of Harrisburg Code

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 City of Harrisburg, "2020 Approved Budget," accessed October 15, 2021
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Pennsylvania General Assembly, "1957 Act 399, Art. IV, Mayor-Council Plan A," accessed October 15, 2021
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 City of Harrisburg, "Office of City Council," accessed October 15, 2021
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed June 4, 2021
5. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
6. ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed May 26, 2021

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