Reading, Pennsylvania: City Government and Municipal Services

Reading operates as a third-class city under Pennsylvania's municipal classification system, governed by a mayor-council structure that manages all primary public services for a population of approximately 95,000 residents within Berks County. The city's administrative framework spans public safety, public works, community development, and fiscal operations, each administered through distinct municipal departments. Understanding how Reading's government is organized matters for residents, contractors, property owners, and researchers engaging with city-level regulatory and service functions.

Definition and scope

Reading is the county seat of Berks County and the fifth-largest city in Pennsylvania by population. Under the Pennsylvania Third Class City Code, Title 11 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Reading operates with an elected mayor serving as the city's chief executive and a nine-member city council functioning as the legislative body. Council members serve four-year staggered terms; the mayor also serves a four-year term.

The city government holds jurisdiction over matters within Reading's 10.1 square miles of incorporated area. This scope covers zoning, building permits, local police and fire services, public works, parks maintenance, and municipal water and sewer operations. It does not cover county-level functions administered by Berks County government, state highway routes managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, or public school operations, which fall under the Reading School District — a separate governmental entity with its own elected board.

State oversight of Reading's finances has been significant. Reading was designated as a distressed municipality under Pennsylvania's Act 47 of 1987, a status it carried from 2009 until 2019 when the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) formally lifted the designation following the city's adoption and execution of a recovery plan. Act 47 distressed status subjects municipalities to state-supervised fiscal management and restricts certain financial decisions without coordinator approval.

How it works

Reading's government functions through the following administrative divisions:

  1. Mayor's Office — Executive leadership, budget proposals, department head appointments, and intergovernmental relations with the Pennsylvania General Assembly and state agencies.
  2. City Council — Legislative authority including ordinance passage, annual budget adoption, and zoning code amendments. Council meetings are held in public session and governed by Robert's Rules of Order as adapted to municipal practice.
  3. Department of Public Works — Manages municipal streets, refuse collection, fleet maintenance, and stormwater infrastructure within the city's road network, distinct from PennDOT-maintained routes.
  4. Reading Police Department — Law enforcement services, operating under the command of a chief appointed by the mayor. The department is governed by Pennsylvania's Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission (MPOETC) standards for officer certification.
  5. Reading Fire Department — Fire suppression, emergency medical services, and fire code inspections, structured across multiple station districts within the city limits.
  6. Community Development — Administers zoning, building permits, and code enforcement. Zoning decisions follow the Reading Zoning Code and are subject to appeal before the Zoning Hearing Board, an independent quasi-judicial body.
  7. Finance Department — Municipal treasury operations, tax collection, and audit preparation. Reading's earned income tax is collected by a designated tax collector under Pennsylvania's Local Tax Enabling Act (Act 511 of 1965).
  8. Reading Area Water Authority — Though structured as an independent authority, it operates the water distribution system serving the city under the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Act.

The city's budget cycle follows the Pennsylvania Third Class City Code's requirement that a proposed budget be publicly presented prior to adoption, with final adoption required before the start of the fiscal year on January 1.

Common scenarios

Interaction with Reading's city government typically occurs in the following contexts:

Decision boundaries

Reading's municipal authority is bounded on multiple sides by overlapping jurisdictions:

City vs. County: Berks County government administers the county court system, the county prison, assessment and property records, and elections. The Reading city government does not administer these functions. Disputes involving county courts or assessment appeals move to county-level processes, not city council.

City vs. State: The Pennsylvania state government exercises preemptive authority in areas including firearms regulation, liquor licensing (administered by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board), environmental permitting for significant discharges (administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection), and utility rate-setting (administered by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission). Reading cannot enact local ordinances that conflict with preemptive state law in these domains.

City vs. School District: The Reading School District operates independently with a separately elected board and independent taxing authority. The city government has no administrative authority over Reading School District operations, staffing, or facilities.

Act 47 legacy: Although Reading exited Act 47 distressed status in 2019, the structural reforms adopted during recovery — including pension funding schedules and debt service management — remain in effect and constrain certain fiscal decisions. These constraints are grounded in the city's adopted plan documents and ongoing reporting obligations to the DCED.

For comparative context, cities such as Allentown, Scranton, and Lancaster operate under the same Pennsylvania Third Class City Code framework, though each carries distinct charter provisions and financial histories.

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