The Borough of Chambersburg is a full service
municipality organized under the Pennsylvania Borough Code
to serve the citizens and business of Chambersburg. The
Borough maintains a staff of over 200 full and part time
employees to serve the community. Most borough operations
are conducted through offices located at 100 South Second
Street, Chambersburg's historic City Hall. The staff is
dedicated to serving your needs.
The Fountain at Memorial Square
As a full service municipality, Chambersburg
supplies a wide variety of services; more services than any
other municipality in the Commonwealth. In addition to
typical municipal services such as highway (58 miles of
streets), stormwater collection system, planning, zoning,
and code enforcement, Chambersburg operates our own Police
force, a combination paid and volunteer Fire Department, a
Basic Life Support EMS service, a recreation department with
acres of parkland, downtown parking program, community and
economic development including a Main Street downtown
revitalization effort and an Elm Street neighborhood
preservation program, and four utilities. Chambersburg is
the only municipality in Pennsylvania to operate an Electric
Utility, a Natural Gas Utility, a Water Utility, a Sanitary
Sewer Utility, and a residential/commercial solid waste
Trash program. We are one of only 35 municipal electricity
communities in Pennsylvania and the largest of the group in
terms of customers. We are one of only two municipal natural
gas utilities and the other, City of Philadelphia, does not
operate its own electric system.
Situated as the County Seat of Franklin County,
Chambersburg is a large and diverse community. Sometimes
dealing with city issues, Chambersburg borough still
maintains a small-town quality of life. According the PA
Department of Community and Economic Development, boroughs
are the second most common form of municipal government in
Pennsylvania, their number exceeded only by the number of
second class townships. The 962 boroughs represent 37.5% of
all general-purpose municipal governments in Pennsylvania.
There is an average of 15 boroughs per county. Chambersburg
is one of the largest boroughs by population and by the size
of our operating budget. The largest boroughs in population
are State College - 38,923, Bethel Park - 33,823,
Norristown- 30,749, Monroeville - 29,169 and Plum - 25,609.
Sixteen boroughs have populations under 100. The smallest
are S.N.P.J. (Lawrence County) - 12; New Morgan (Berks) -
16; Valley-Hi (Fulton) - 19; Green Hills (Washington) - 21;
and Seven Springs (Somerset) - 22. Chambersburg had a
population (2000 census) of just over 18,000 residents.
Chambersburg operates under the Council-Manager
form of government. The Chief Administrative Officer of the
organization is the Borough Manager, appointed by and
serving at the pleasure of a majority of the Town Council.
The Council, currently ten members, is elected by Wards for
four year terms. The Council elects one of their own to
serve as Council President, Council Vice-President, and
Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee. The
Council serves as the legislative and quasi-judicial
branches of local government. Their mission is to preserve
the fiscal security of the Borough and set long term
objectives and goals for staff. They also engage in all
manner of community planning.
The Mayor is independently elected. Pursuant to
the Pennsylvania Borough Code, the Mayor is the supervisor
of the Borough Police Department, joins Council meetings as
a non-voting member, and may approve local laws adopted by
Council. The Mayor also serves as a dignitary representing
the community.
Town Council is composed of citizen-officials and therefore
they do not hold regular office hours. To reach them by telephone, please call
the Borough Secretary at (717) 264-5151 and a message for callback may be left
for your representative. To send an email, use the Contact Us form.
