For the third article in our series on Authorities within the Commonwealth we decided to take a look at member compensation for the Dauphin County General Authority.

Through a series of Right to Know Requests we learned about the 5 Dauphin County General Authority Members who earned $51,277.56 to attend 7 documented meetings from January through July of this year.

Although additional meetings took place on the dates specified in the calendar below, meeting minutes do not exist. As a result, we cannot determine the business that was transacted or the times at which they occurred. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Dauphin County General Authority was incorporated on March 7, 1984 by Dauphin County as a special purpose government engaged in business-type activities pursuant to Chapter 56 of Title 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.

The Authority acts as a financing conduit by uniting borrowers and lenders for which it receives administrative fees. In some instances the Authority assumes an interest in development projects to generate revenue.

In theory, these investments should generate money for the Authority but an audit conducted in 2012 shows otherwise. Of the major proprietary funds, the Pittsburgh Hyatt Hotel and Conference Center as well as the Dauphin Highlands Golf Course are struggling to sustain operations.

This is due to the fact that they cannot maintain sufficient operating cash flows to meet debt service payments on the money borrowed. These problems were highlighted during a meeting in 2011 where Dauphin County General Authority Members are informed of their inability to make debt service payments on the Authorities various bond issues.

So what’s the big deal?

Pursuant to the County Bond Guaranty Agreement between the County, the Authority, and the trustee for the bonds, Dauphin County will be required to pay principal and interest payments if the authority cannot maintain its obligations. Meanwhile, as the board of the authority juggles their investments each member receives $277.46 per meeting in addition to a $416.20 stipend.

In addition to their stipend and compensation, board members receive an additional $277.46 per committee meeting. Since meeting minutes are not recorded for the “special meetings”, we cannot definitively project the total amount of time “working” as compared to the compensation received.

However, we can tell you that the five-member panel has received $51,277.56 over seven months. This figure equates to 1,037.69 dollars per hour for the five members that are appointed to serve on the board by the Dauphin County Commissioners. In comparison this makes state legislative per diems look like, well, what they should be used for, lunch money.

When you examine the fee sheets, the administrative fund expenses and the missing meeting minutes for the fee sheet's "special meetings", you'll notice a few discrepancies. When asked about the discrepancies between the Board Fee Sheets, the Administrative Fund Expenses, and missing meeting minutes for the fee sheet special meetings, Abby Gabner, Assistant Executive Director for the Authority, informed us of the accounting error and said that they'd be changing their accounting practices.

Who are the Board Members?

Barbara Zemlock is the Chair of the Authority and has received $7,491.52 from January through July of this year. As chair, Mrs. Zemlock receives $346.83 to attend regular meetings, as opposed to the $277.46 provided to regular members. Zemlock is a local attorney who is married to Judge Scott Evans.

A senior staffer for the Speaker of the House, David Transue. Mr. Transue works full time for the House Republican Caucus at $123,500.00 per year. For 2013, he has collected $10,959.74 for attending 7 documented meetings. Here’s footage of Transue describing a $1.2 million dollar request for local share gaming funds to renovate the club house of the Dauphin County Highlands Golf Course which is described as a brownfield site.

Dave Shannon has obtained $9,849.90 for his service to the Dauphin County General Authority. Shannon is a CPA and serves as Vice President at the McNaughton Company, PC.

William D. Kohl attended the greatest number of meetings and received $12,571.58 in compensation. William Kohl is a principal partner for Greenwood Hospitality Group. Greenwood Hospitality Group purchased the Harrisburg Hilton in 2012 where Mr. Kohl served as the President and CEO.

Lastly, Douglas Gelder has been compensated $10,404.82 for his attendance this year. Gelder is Lead Independent Director of Metro Bancorp Inc. and is the President and Owner of DSG Development in Hershey, PA. Here’s footage of Mr. Gelder questioning the Authorities involvement in the approval of a $15,900 dollar espresso machine purchase for the Pittsburgh Hyatt Hotel.

The following calendar highlights meeting dates for members of the Dauphin County General Authority. Regular meetings are highlighted in red, special meetings are colored in blue.

Select a date on the calendar to view members that attended and the meetings duration. Since minutes and agenda items are not available for meetings other than regular business meetings, we have no way to know what was discussed or how long they lasted.

Regular meetings in red will provide the accrued compensation for each member from the date of the previous regular meeting.

Board Minutes from January through July, 2013:

January, February, March, April, May, and June.

We're in the process of obtaining further information in regard to the Authorities Committee Meetings. If you'd like to see the Authority in operation you might consider stopping by for their next scheduled meeting which will take place on August 21, 2013 at 8 am. They meet on the par 3 of the 15th hole at the Dauphin Highlands Golf Course.

We were in attendance for today’s 8 am meeting, we’ll be posting the footage later today.