A pair of public agencies has agreed to assist the Borough of Greenville as it tackles its fiscal problems.

The state Governor's Center for Local Government Services will focus on the borough's immediate financial concerns, while the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission will provide the borough a long-range plan for fiscal well-being, according to executives for the agencies.

Both agencies initially were contacted by the borough, the executives said.

Fred Reddig, local government policy manager for the Governor's Center in Harrisburg, said the center will provide "a range of technical assistance" and address immediate problems facing the borough.

"Primarily, we will take a look at the borough's overall financial condition and make recommendations," Reddig said.

Reddig said the center will make recommendations after reviewing prior audits and financial statements and studying the current-year budget and spending to date during 2002.

While the center does not provide funding, Reddig said it can recommend avenues for the borough to pursue to receive financial help.

Borough council is expected to vote at 6 p.m. today to approve a letter to the state center officially asking for help. "They are going to define exactly what kind of assistance they're looking for," Reddig said.

Dennis Puko, executive director of the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission, met with Greenville officials Monday. Puko said the commission is likely to prepare a comprehensive plan for the borough for the first time in more than two decades.

The last plan provided a long-range look at the borough and neighboring Hempfield Township, Puko said. This plan figures to encourage Greenville and some of its neighbors to do some cooperative planning, Puko said.

"It's right and necessary to do that type of planning. Often what is one functional community is actually several different municipalities," Puko said. "And Pennsylvania has financial incentives in place for communities who do multi-municipality cooperative planning."

In addition to incentives coming in, cooperative municipalities could spend less money on some services and purchasing, Puko said.

On New Year's Eve, council passed a 2002 spending plan that called for a 4.6-percent real estate tax hike but was still an estimated $90,000 in the red. Council reopened the $3 million-plus plan on Jan. 7 and said it would make cuts needed to balance the budget by Feb. 15.

Several days after the budget was reopened, The Herald learned that about $500,000 of a $3.5 million bond floated by the borough to support a multi-million dollar recreation and revitalization project was used in 2000 to keep the town afloat financially. Borough solicitor Warren Keck III said Friday almost all of that money covered day-to-day expenses, its use was unauthorized and it must be replaced.

An audit indicating whether the bond was used in 2001 for general purposes is expected next week.

Taxpayers shouldered 18-percent and 15-percent tax hikes, respectively, the last two years to pay for the bond issue, earmarked for the local share of a $5.5 million regional recreation and downtown revitalization project.