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<p>HAZLETON &#8212; Struggling with financial issues for the past five years, the city has applied to a state program that offers help to distressed municipalities, the mayor announced Tuesday.</p><p>&#8220;It is with great dismay that I have filed for consideration with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development &#8230; for a determination of financial distress,&#8221; said Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat in a press release.</p><p>Under the state&#8217;s Municipalities Financial Recovery Act, also known as Act 47, cities declared financially distressed cede most of the control over their budget to the state.</p><p>That has yet to happen in Hazleton.</p><p>But Cusat said he applied to the program &#8220;to begin the process of financial recovery.&#8221;</p><p>His press release also pointed to city council, which he said has &#8220;ignored the city&#8217;s deficit and continues to try to do business as usual.&#8221;</p><p>Council President Jack Mundie responded to Cusat&#8217;s announcement with a statement on his own.</p><p>&#8220;The Mayor wants to go into Act 47 because he cannot and will not follow a budget,&#8221; Mundie said. &#8220;He gave raises to all the managers and department heads that council did not have in the budget. &#8230; He refused a $400,000 paving contract with the HCA (Hazleton City Authority). He refused $500,000 for selling our delinquent taxes that we have been doing for 12 years.&#8221;</p><p>The city of Wilkes-Barre is currently trying to avoid distressed status. It is participating in the state&#8217;s Early Intervention Program, designed to assist struggling municipalities with short-term and long-term solutions to their financial problems.</p><p>Cusat said Hazleton&#8217;s council previously &#8220;rejected a request with donor funding to perform an Early Intervention study.&#8221;</p><style>
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Hazleton mayor applies to state program for distressed municipalities