PRINTER'S NO. 1246
No. 1070 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY FRYER, WEIDNER, RUGGIERO, COLE, MORRIS, MELUSKEY,
GARZIA, LEVI, ABRAHAM, TRELLO, BRANDT, LOGUE, LIVENGOOD,
A. C. FOSTER JR. AND DeMEDIO, MAY 2, 1977
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MAY 2, 1977
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of February 1, 1966 (1965 P.L.1656, No.581),
2 entitled "An act concerning boroughs, and revising, amending
3 and consolidating the law relating to boroughs," changing
4 provisions relating to filling of vacancies in certain
5 borough offices.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 804 of the act of February 1, 1966 (1965
9 P.L.1656, No.581), known as "The Borough Code," amended October
10 25, 1967 (P.L.484, No.230), is amended to read:
11 Section 804. Term; Bonds.--Persons elected to borough
12 offices shall serve for the term for which they were elected,
13 except where a vacancy in office shall exist for any reason, in
14 which case the vacancy shall be filled[, for the remainder of
15 the original term,] in the manner provided by this act.
16 Whenever any elected official of a borough is required to
17 give bond for the faithful performance of his duties, the
18 borough may pay the premium for such bond; except that the
19 borough shall pay a proportionate share of the cost of the bond
1 of the tax collector, such share to be in the same ratio as the
2 amount of borough taxes bears to the total amount of all taxes
3 indicated by the tax duplicate to be collected by the tax
4 collector during the year preceding the date the premium is due.
5 Section 2. Section 901 of the act, amended February 11, 1976
6 (No.7), is amended to read:
7 Section 901. Filling Vacancies in Elective Borough
8 Offices.--If any vacancy shall occur in the office of the mayor,
9 member of council, auditor, controller, assessor, or tax
10 collector, by death, resignation, removal from the borough, or
11 from a ward in the case of a ward office, or by failure to take
12 the required oath or to give bond as provided by law or
13 ordinance, or in any other manner whatsoever, the borough
14 council shall fill such vacancy within thirty days by
15 appointing, by resolution, a registered elector of the borough,
16 or of the ward in case of a ward office, to hold such office, if
17 the term thereof continues so long, until the first Monday in
18 January after the first municipal election occurring more than
19 sixty days after the vacancy occurs, at which election an
20 eligible person shall be elected to the office for the remainder
21 of the term.
22 The person appointed shall give bond if required by law or
23 ordinance.
24 In cases where the person elected to the office shall fail to
25 give bond, if any, required or to take the required oath, the
26 borough council, before making the appointment, shall declare
27 the office vacant.
28 If the council of any borough shall refuse, fail or neglect,
29 or be unable, for any reason whatsoever, to fill any vacancy
30 within thirty days after the vacancy happens, as provided in
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1 this section, then the [court of common pleas shall, upon
2 petition of the mayor or council or five citizens of the
3 borough, fill the vacancy in such office, by the appointment of
4 a qualified resident of the borough] vacancy shall be filled
5 within fifteen additional days by a vacancy board, to consist of
6 the borough council and the mayor, who shall act as chairman, by
7 appointment of a registered elector of the borough, (or ward in
8 the case of a ward office), to hold such office, if the term
9 thereof continues so long, until the first Monday in January
10 after the first municipal election occurring more than sixty
11 days after the vacancy occurs, at which election an eligible
12 person shall be elected to the office for the remainder of the
13 term.
14 If the vacancy is not filled by the vacancy board within
15 fifteen days, the chairman shall petition the court of common
16 pleas to fill the vacancy by the appointment of a registered
17 elector of the borough (or ward in the case of a ward), to hold
18 such office, if the term thereof continues so long, until the
19 first Monday in January after the first municipal election
20 occuring more than sixty days after the vacancy occurs, at which
21 election an eligible person shall be elected to the office for
22 the remainder of the term.
23 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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