Gerald E. Cross, MPA
Mr. Cross is Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League’s Central PA Division in Wilkes-Barre. Since joining PEL in 1988, he has planned, organized, directed, conducted, reviewed or presented a wide variety of research involving counties, municipalities, school districts, and authorities. These projects have involved budgeting, management and financial analysis, long-range financial and operational planning, productivity improvement, administrative procedures, service options, municipal merger and consolidation, government restructuring and charter drafting, rate structure analysis, personnel and labor relations, and school enrollment projections, among other areas.
Mr. Cross’s projects have included Act 47 financial recovery plans for the cities of Scranton, Harrisburg, and Nanticoke; models for tax base sharing and revenue sharing in Lehigh Valley; analysis of the impact on the cost and financing of services in host municipalities of the State System of Higher Education; assisting government study commissions in Luzerne, Clinton and Lancaster counties; analysis of the compensation of public school teachers and comparable private sector positions in York and Lehigh counties; analyzing fire and/or police services in multiple municipalities and Councils of Governments; and detailed analyses of demographics and projections of enrollments for more than 150 school districts.
He previously served with the then Pennsylvania Department of Community Affairs as a local government specialist and small community advisor. In addition, he worked as assistant manager for Lemoyne Borough and community development director for Forest City Borough. He is currently a board member and treasurer of both a municipal and a regional sewer authority. Mr. Cross received his B.A. in Government from King’s College and his MPA from Pennsylvania State University. He is a member of the Government Research Association and Government Finance Officers Association.