State legislators and local officials from across Pennsylvania called on the Pennsylvania Department of General Services to end its wasteful delays and reuse the long-vacant Hamburg, White Haven and Polk centers at a public hearing of the Senate Majority Policy Committee.

The hearing was chaired by Sen. David Argall, R-29, and hosted by Sen. Chris Gebhard, R-48, and Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21. The high taxpayer burden of maintaining vacant state properties rather than returning them quickly to productive use was the focus of the discussion.

A total of nine state senators and representatives participated in the public hearing Thursday.

“It’s been 1,948 days since former Sec. Curt Topper of DGS based his testimony on reselling state properties around this principle: ‘Time is Money,’ ” Argall said. “I certainly agree, but since then, these three state centers sit vacant after they were closed by Gov. (Tom) Wolf. Pennsylvania taxpayers deserve much better.”

“I am excited for the possibilities to get these unused properties back in action again contributing to the local economy,” Gebhard said. “Our state is approaching a fiscal cliff, and we can’t afford to keep squandering tax dollars on vacant buildings.”

“The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services made plans to close these facilities — some of them decades ago — but has completely failed to come up with any plan for the future of the properties,” Hutchinson said. “It’s time for them to stop wasting taxpayer dollars and finally put these lands to use in a way that benefits the public.”

Argall pointed to three examples of state properties that were heated, staffed, with water and sewer services maintained, before ultimately being demolished: the Harrisburg State Hospital, which sat vacant for 18 years; Allentown State Hospital, which sat vacant for 10 years; and SCI Pittsburgh, which sat vacant for seven years. The estimated cost of maintaining those properties before tearing them down totaled more than $115 million.

More than $47 million has been spent thus far to maintain the Hamburg, White Haven and Polk centers.

The state has spent about $3.9 million per year to maintain the Hamburg Center in Berks County since it closed in 2018, totaling $23 million.

Both the White Haven Center in Luzerne County and the Polk Center in Venango County closed in 2023, with estimated annual cost totaling $8.9 million and $15.3 million, respectively.

Future costs are expected to exceed $28 million a year, with no effort by DGS to market the properties.

“This governor (Josh Shapiro), the last governor (Wolf), and their appointed Cabinet officers in the Departments of Human Services and General Services should all be embarrassed by their continuing bureaucratic nightmare,” Argall said.

“DGS told us 1,948 days ago that ‘time is money’ and now this governor claims that his administration is ‘working to move at the speed of business.’ No private employer would flush millions down the drain maintaining empty properties, year after year. These properties need to be repurposed now.”

Video of the full hearing can be found on the Senate Majority Policy Committee’s website.