I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.
—William Ernest Henley, "Invictus"

Not the city of Lancaster.

Far from being in control of its destiny, Lancaster finds itself buffeted by financial forces that it can't navigate. If a task force appointed by Mayor Rick Gray is right, unless the real captains of the ship of state make a course correction, Lancaster is sailing into a fiscal maelstrom.

That's the picture emerging from a 43-page report issued earlier this month by the mayor's Municipal Finance Task Force. Ominously titled "Prosper or Perish: Financing Local Government Services in Pennsylvania," the paper predicts a grim future for Lancaster and other third-class cities and boroughs unless key reforms are enacted.

Unfortunately for Lancaster, virtually all of the reforms are beyond the city's control.

The task force, composed of business leaders, says small cities need a menu of tax options to reduce overreliance on property tax revenue. Only the state Legislature can do that.

And, the report says, the contract arbitration system for police and fire unions has to be rewritten. Again, a job for the Legislature.

The report calls for revenue sharing with federal, state, county and tax-exempt property owners, meaning, among other things, that other government offices would contribute a fair share toward the cost of services provided by the city. Lancaster can't force any level of government — or any nonprofit agency — to cough up the cash.

"Prosper or Perish" also proposes that local governments should share more services. Unless the Legislature radically changes the state's crazy-quilt municipal government system, that requires the voluntary cooperation of the city's neighbors.

How about the recommendation that the city and its public safety unions engage in serious talks about the budget pressures of their pension and health care benefits? If union negotiators aren't willing to budge, nothing will happen.

Lancaster, in short, faces a future that city leaders can't do much to change.

The finance task force, recognizing that reality, tries to build a case in the report that if Lancaster fails to prosper — if it perishes — the ripple effects will spill over onto the rest of Lancaster County. And, of course, other small cities and many boroughs, including those in the county, face the same kinds of financial problems. But the case is bound to be a hard sell.

Take revenue sharing. Suburban townships don't see how their fate is intertwined with the city's. The county is pinched for money. The state has a $4.2 billion deficit. Washington? Forget it.

Possibly the easiest way to help Lancaster avoid the fiscal rocks is for the Legislature to change the laws establishing what taxes may be levied by third-class cities. Sales tax. Income tax.

But lawmakers have been ignoring the plight of small cities and boroughs for years. Consumed by the state's own deficit, they're not likely to have a sudden change of heart.

Lancaster faces the ongoing prospect of dwindling revenue, spending 80 percent of its property tax income on police and firefighter salaries and watching its budget reserve swing from $7.2 million in the black this year to a predicted $22.3 million in the red by 2016.

And that will mean continuing reductions in services, even though Lancaster City Council has already cut 64 full-time employees in the last five years.

And that will lead to … even faster-dwindling revenue, higher deficits and deeper cuts in vital services like police and fire protection.

It's a downward spiral from which Lancaster can't extract itself — without help. The Titanic can be turned, but it requires immediate intervention.

So consider "Prosper or Perish" an SOS. If the distress signal goes unanswered, the next step might be shipwreck.