PA Treasury cuts 60, shuts Philly office, keeps Scranton: update

Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord has laid off 60 people, from his staff of 490, due to state budget cuts, says spokeswoman Carrie Fischer Lepore.

A big drop in state income tax receipts, along with a summer-long fight between Gov. Rendell, who wants to raise taxes, and state Senate Republican leaders, who want to cut programs that Democrats like, has put pressure on state agencies to cut more jobs. Treasury had to cut its budget 15%, Lepore told me.

UPDATE 9/4: Cuts include Treasury's Philadelphia office - gone, with 10 workers, some of whom will move to Harrisburg. The Pittsburgh, Scranton and Reading offices stay open.

Why, when those towns are small and dead, compared to Philadelphia? Partly because Scranton and Pittsburgh have call centers for the Bureau of Unclaimed Property, which were spared by the cuts, said Treasury spokesman Doug Rohanna. The cuts will disprortionately hit the property bureau, which is losing 5 auditors among its 22 audit and support staff.

The bureau raised a net $70 million for the state last year, if I follow the numbers Rohanna's office sent me. If that surplus falls because of the job cuts, put this in the Slice the People's Nose to Spite its Face file.