Legislation Quick Search
03/28/2024 05:25 AM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20170&cosponId=25333
Share:
Home / Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

Subscribe to PaLegis Notifications
NEW!

Subscribe to receive notifications of new Co-Sponsorship Memos circulated

By Member | By Date | Keyword Search


Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: March 2, 2018 10:24 AM
From: Senator Kim L. Ward and Sen. Patrick J. Stefano
To: All Senate members
Subject: Municipal Water and Sewer Authority Reform
 
We are introducing legislation to require transparency and accountability in the operations of local municipal water and sewer authorities.

While these local authorities have a public mission to fulfill, they are government entities that should be responsive to the public they serve and their operations should be transparent. Yet, constituents have told us over and over how they often have little recourse when trying to address service issues and rate increases with local water and sewer authorities. In fact, both the state Auditor General and Public Utility Commission staff have told us their offices receive a significant number of complaints from the public regarding local authorities yet neither have statutory jurisdiction over them except in very few cases. Our own personal experiences have shown us some water and sewer authorities use questionable practices in their operations that seemingly neglect the fact that these entities are actual government agencies and as such, should be more transparent and accountable in their practices.

Our legislation will amend Chapter 56 of the Municipality Authorities Act (Title 53) to do the following for municipal water and sewer authorities:
  • Set a two-term limit on appointments to local authority boards with board members serving until their successor has been appointed.
  • Prohibit local municipal officials and municipal employees from serving on the board of any authority which services the municipality.
  • Prohibit authority board members from being employed by their own authority or an authority’s management company. Also prohibit employment by an authority of any elected municipal official from within its service area.
  • Prohibit an authority’s management company from employing certain family members of authority board members or the authority’s management-level employees. Ban employment by the management company of certain family members of elected municipal officials from within the service area of the authority. Also restrict an authority from hiring certain family members of its management company’s owners and employees.
  • Require every authority to maintain a website that includes, at a minimum, the following: rate information; customer service information; board member names and terms; public meeting minutes; annual audits and reports; annual budget information; management company information; and current contracts and vendors of both the authority as well as any contracts for government functions executed by a management company hired by an authority.
  • Establish penalties for failure to submit the annual report and audit to DCED.
  • Subject expenditures by a management company performing government functions on behalf of an authority to disclosure on the annual audit and report the authority is currently required to submit to DCED.
  • Subject management company employees contracted by a local authority to the State Ethics Law. Require the state Ethics forms of all authority board members to be made available for viewing on the authority’s website.
  • Place authorities who extend beyond their corporate limits by purchasing water or sewer utilities outside of their current boundaries under the Public Utility Commission.
If you have any questions regarding this legislation, please feel free to contact Geri Sarfert, legislative director to Senator Ward, at 717-787-1640.