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HARRISBURG — Late last year, Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement agency revealed that taxpayers would pick up the tab for more than $1 million in security upgrades at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s privately owned family home in Montgomery County.
Now those bills are coming — but there’s a roadblock with plans to use public dollars for the entire job.
Records obtained by Spotlight PA show Pennsylvania’s Treasury Department is questioning whether state procurement rules allow public money to be used for construction on non-state-owned property like Shapiro’s home.
As of late January, employees were asking the Pennsylvania State Police, the agency underwriting the upgrades, to provide a “comprehensive” legal justification, records show.
“How is the location in question public property?” They wrote, adding: “Please provide any policies or guidelines related to defining public property to include privately owned residences.”
Treasury spokesman Steve Chizmar did not elaborate on the agency’s concerns, saying: “We are currently auditing those. [bills] And that audit is expected to take several weeks.”
The Treasury Department is headed by Republican Stacey Garrity, who is seeking the party’s nomination to challenge Shapiro for the governor’s job in November. State revenues are deposited into the treasury, which uses the money to pay bills for things like contracts and workers.
The upgrade to Shapiro’s home in Abington was recommended by state police officials last April after a midnight raid on the state-owned governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, where Shapiro and his family lived in Harrisburg. The democratic governor and his family and friends were sleeping inside, having just finished celebrating the Passover in the evening, when a man entered and set several rooms on fire.
Although no one was harmed, the attacker — Cody Ballmer of Harrisburg — told law enforcement he would have beaten the governor with a hammer if he had met him during the break-in. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges.
The attack set off a top-to-bottom reevaluation of security protocols for the First Family. State police hired an outside contractor to recommend changes in security for the governor, who is protected by a special state police unit. The contractor’s report was never made public, but soon after, the state began extensive security upgrades and repairs to the state-owned governor’s mansion.
State police also quietly authorized upgrades to Shapiro’s personal home. Those upgrades, which began over the summer, were first publicly disclosed by state police in a letter to top lawmakers late last year.
In an email Tuesday, state police spokesman Logan Brause said that while the state-owned residence was being restored, the Shapiros had to live in their personal residence on a full-time basis — a move that required “severe security improvements” at the governor’s private home.
Those expenses, Brause wrote, were necessary to carry out the duties of the state police, which included protecting the governor.
State police determined that making those security enhancements at Shapiro’s private home was the best option, with alternative plans such as renting an alternate property to temporarily house the first family.
Brause also said the Treasury Department has paid two invoices related to work on the governor’s private residence.
When asked for specifics on those bills, the Shapiro administration provided copies of two invoices for licensing and administrative fees from one of the contractors involved in the security upgrades. The invoices do not specify whether the work was for Shapiro’s private home, and they are dated to September of last year, a month before state police revealed publicly funded security upgrades were being made there as well.
The security upgrades to the governor’s family home were made under emergency construction provisions in the state’s procurement code, which outline the procedures and (often complicated) steps state agencies must follow to purchase goods and services and execute construction projects.
The state’s procurement handbook defines emergency construction as “the process of constructing, altering, improving, or demolishing any public structure or building or other public improvement of any kind to remove or improve the foundation for an emergency.”
It is silent on whether private property is eligible for publicly funded emergency construction.
A spokesman for the General Services Department, which oversees procurement matters, did not immediately respond to a question regarding which section of the emergency procurement code allows taxpayer dollars to be used for emergency construction on privately owned structures.
Brause also did not cite a specific section of the emergency procurement code for work on a home owned by Shapiro’s family. Instead, he said emergency purchases are allowed when there is a threat to public safety.
Publicly funded upgrades to an elected official’s private home or other property are rare. That’s because the state’s strict ethics rules broadly prohibit public officials from personally profiting from their positions.
A spokesman for Shapiro told Spotlight PA last year that the governor had consulted with the state ethics commission to ensure there was no improper financial gain.
But records obtained by the news organization show the governor did not request that guidance until at least two months after construction began on those upgrades at his Abington home. His spokesman did not comment on the timing of the opinion.
The administration did not consult with Treasury officials who flagged the expenditure now.
According to records obtained by Spotlight PA through a public records request, the upgrades include $311,230.50 for the security system, $81,043.84 for tree trimming, and $288,736 for landscaping and maintenance involving the outdoor grounds.
Landscaping can cost the state even more. The Shapiros and one of their neighbors are locked in a heated court dispute over their property boundary. Neighbors sued Shapiro and state police in federal court, alleging the landscaping work encroached on their land. Shapiros countered in Montgomery County’s common plea.
Asked who is paying Shapiro’s legal bills, spokesman Will Simmons said the governor is paying out of pocket for his case. Meanwhile, the governor’s Office of General Counsel is representing him and the state police in federal court (in that case, Shapiro is being sued individually and in his official capacity).
Shapiro’s private home work has also attracted the attention of legislators.
A legislative committee led by Republican state Sen. Jarrett Coleman late last year subpoenaed the Shapiro administration in Lehigh County for records related to upgrades to the governor’s personal home. Legislative subpoenas are rare, and have been mired in litigation when issued in the past.
Coleman’s office said it had obtained the records from the administration and plans to hold a hearing on the matter when the state Senate returns to session in mid-March.
Asked if he believed the state’s procurement code extended to work on private property, Coleman said: “The state’s emergency procurement policy is black and white. It limits construction to public property, as it should be. The governor’s private residence is not public property.”
He added: “It appears that these bills cannot be paid and perhaps there was never a legal basis for the purchase in the first place.”
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