Greenville council voted Tuesday to seek help under the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act, a state program for financially distressed communities.

"The Borough of Greenville has experienced extreme financial difficulties due to the fact that over the past five years deficits occurred in the general fund budget," the resolution says.

The borough entered the year with a $1,062,000 deficit -- more than one-third the size of its proposed $3.06 million budget.

Council plans to vote on the revised budget at 6:30 p.m. Thursday during a special meeting in Greenville High School's lecture hall. Before the budget can be adopted, however, Mercer County Common Pleas Court must allow the borough to raise property taxes a proposed 24 percent over last year. A hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the county courthouse.

Adding to the borough's financial woes, $667,000 of a $3.67 million bond issue reserved for a recreation and revitalization project was spent to cover day-to-day expenses the last two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been borrowed from other borough funds to keep the town afloat.

The borough's call for help does not guarantee it will be designated a distressed community by the state Governor's Center for Local Government Services, which runs the 15-year-old program.

The resolution simply gives the state "the authority to come in and do a study to determine if we qualify," said Council President Richard S. Houpt.

"They may find we do not qualify," Houpt said.

Conversely, Houpt said, "They could offer it to us and we could choose to turn it down."

The borough must meet at least one of 11 criteria for it to be considered for the program. Communities that qualify for the program are eligible to receive emergency, interest-free loans. Other benefits include free technical assistance, access to grant money that is not available to other communities and more taxing power.

The resolution said the borough needs equipment for police, fire and public works departments. "Public health, safety and welfare" could be affected "if funding for the equipment is not forthcoming."

The state could spend as long as six months combing through the borough's books to determine if it qualifies.

Council members said the decision to seek the state's help was a tough one.

"At first, we were very much against it," said Councilwoman Pamela Auchter.

"But we were turned down for loans by several banks. We're not loan-worthy, and we don't have a way to pay back the bank loans ... We can't even pay the interest," Ms. Auchter said.

"If there was a way we could do otherwise, I would consider it," said Councilman Ian Scott Forbes, encouraging residents to suggest alternatives to the distressed designation.

Ideas to make up $1 million included a one-time $350 tax hike for every tax-paying resident, selling borough-owned property or buildings and a three-year fund-raising effort.