PRINTER'S NO. 4314
No. 3020 Session of 1990
INTRODUCED BY FOX, ACOSTA AND KENNEY, NOVEMBER 14, 1990
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, NOVEMBER 14, 1990
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 24, 1931 (P.L.1206, No.331), entitled
2 "An act concerning townships of the first class; amending,
3 revising, consolidating, and changing the law relating
4 thereto," providing for the selection of a township tax
5 collector; and further providing for the duties of township
6 treasurers.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 503 of the act of June 24, 1931
10 (P.L.1206, No.331), known as The First Class Township Code,
11 reenacted and amended May 27, 1949 (P.L.1955, No.569), is
12 amended to read:
13 Section 503. Elected Officers Enumerated.--The electors of
14 each township shall elect (a) at least five township
15 commissioners, (b) one township treasurer, (b.1) one township
16 tax collector, (c) except as hereinafter otherwise provided, one
17 township assessor and one assistant township assessor, and (d)
18 except as otherwise hereinafter provided, three elected auditors
19 or one appointed auditor, or one controller where such office
20 has been established. All elected township officers shall be
1 registered electors of the township.
2 Section 2. The heading of subarticle (c) of Article V of the
3 act is amended to read:
4 ARTICLE V
5 ELECTION OF OFFICERS; VACANCIES IN OFFICE
6 * * *
7 (c) Treasurer and Tax Collector
8 Section 3. Section 511 of the act is amended to read:
9 Section 511. Eligibility.--The same person may hold the
10 office of township treasurer and treasurer of the school
11 district, but no township treasurer shall hold any other
12 township office [except that of tax collector].
13 Section 4. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
14 Section 512. Election of Tax Collector.--(a) At the
15 municipal election in the year one thousand nine hundred and
16 ninety-three, and every fourth year thereafter, the electors of
17 each township shall elect a township tax collector for a term of
18 four years, from the first Monday of January next following his
19 election.
20 (b) When the township tax collector is unable to perform the
21 duties of his office and fails or refuses to appoint a deputy,
22 the court of common pleas, on petition of the township
23 commissioners shall appoint a deputy tax collector to serve
24 until the tax collector is again able to perform the duties of
25 his office, or until such deputy is removed by the court, but in
26 no instance shall such deputy serve beyond the term of the tax
27 collector in whose office he is serving as deputy tax collector.
28 The court shall also fix the compensation of such deputy tax
29 collector at a rate not to exceed that paid to the elected
30 township tax collector. For the time such deputy shall serve
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1 such compensation shall be deducted from the compensation
2 otherwise payable to the township tax collector. Such deputy
3 shall furnish bond in the same manner as the bond of the tax
4 collector.
5 Section 513. Eligibility.--The same person may hold the
6 office of township tax collector and tax collector of the school
7 district, but no township tax collector shall hold any other
8 township office.
9 Section 5. Section 530 of the act, amended May 1, 1981
10 (P.L.32, No.12), is amended to read:
11 Section 530. Vacancies in General.--When a vacancy occurs in
12 the office of township commissioner, auditor, controller,
13 treasurer, tax collector, assessor, assistant auditor, or
14 assistant triennial assessor in any township, by reason of
15 death, resignation, removal from the township or ward, or
16 otherwise, the board of township commissioners of such township
17 shall fill such vacancy by appointing by resolution a registered
18 voter of the ward or township, as the case may be, in which the
19 vacancy occurs. If the board of township commissioners of any
20 township shall refuse, fail, or neglect, or be unable for any
21 reason whatsoever, to fill such vacancy within thirty (30) days
22 after the vacancy occurs, then the vacancy board shall fill the
23 vacancy within fifteen (15) additional days by appointing a
24 registered elector of the ward or township, as the case may be,
25 in which the vacancy occurs. The vacancy board shall consist of
26 the board of commissioners and one registered elector of the
27 township, who shall be appointed by the board of township
28 commissioners at the board's first meeting each calendar year or
29 as soon thereafter as practical, and who shall act as chairman
30 of the vacancy board. If the vacancy board does not fill the
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1 vacancy within the prescribed time, the chairman shall, or in
2 the case of a vacancy in the chairmanship the remaining members
3 of the vacancy board shall, petition the court of common pleas
4 to fill the vacancy by appointing a registered elector of the
5 ward or township, as the case may be, in which the vacancy
6 occurs. In the case where there are vacancies in a majority of
7 the offices of commissioners, the court of common pleas shall
8 fill such vacancies upon presentation of petition signed by not
9 less than fifteen (15) registered electors of the township. In
10 all cases, the person so appointed shall hold the office if the
11 term thereof continues so long, until the first Monday in
12 January after the first municipal election occurring more than
13 sixty (60) days after the vacancy occurs, at which election an
14 eligible person shall be elected for the remainder of the term
15 and shall have been a resident of the township continuously for
16 at least one (1) year before his appointment. In townships
17 divided into wards, all appointed commissioners shall reside in
18 the ward in which the vacancy occurred and shall have resided in
19 said ward continuously for at least one (1) year before
20 appointment. No person who was convicted of or pled guilty or no
21 contest to a felony shall be eligible for appointment to fill a
22 vacancy on the board of commissioners for a period of three (3)
23 years from the date of the conviction or plea.
24 Section 6. The heading of Article VIII of the act is amended
25 to read:
26 ARTICLE VIII
27 TOWNSHIP TREASURER AND TOWNSHIP TAX COLLECTOR
28 Section 7. Section 801 of the act, amended July 2, 1953
29 (P.L.326, No.71), is amended to read:
30 Section 801. Fidelity Bond.--The treasurer of each township
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1 and the tax collector of each township shall give a fidelity and
2 not a surety bond to the Commonwealth in a sum to be prescribed
3 by ordinance or resolution and at least equal to fifty per
4 centum of the probable amount of the annual township tax. Such
5 bond shall be subscribed by a surety company or companies duly
6 authorized to do business in this Commonwealth. The bond given
7 by the treasurer shall be conditioned on a just accounting for
8 and paying over all moneys belonging to the township funds that
9 may come into his hands, as treasurer[, from taxation or
10 otherwise,] for the payment over thereof only in the manner
11 prescribed by law, for the delivery to his successor in office
12 of all papers, books, documents, and other things held in right
13 of his office, for the payment to such successor of any balance
14 in money remaining in his hands or charged against him in the
15 settlement of his accounts[, and that, as tax collector]. The
16 bond given by the tax collector shall be conditioned on a just
17 accounting for and paying over all tax moneys, for the delivery
18 to his successor in office of all papers, books, documents or
19 other things held in right of the office and for the payment to
20 such successor of any balance of money remaining in his hands or
21 charged against him in the settlement of his accounts of
22 township, county, poor, institution district, and school taxes[,
23 he]. The tax collector shall account for and pay over all moneys
24 received by him as taxes, penalties and interest. The township
25 [treasurer] tax collector and his sureties shall be discharged
26 from further liability on any bond as tax collector as soon as
27 all tax items, contained in the duplicates delivered to him, are
28 either--(1) collected and paid over to the proper taxing
29 district; or (2) set forth in schedules filed with or certified
30 to the proper tax authorities; or (3) returned to the county
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1 commissioners for sale of the real estate by the county
2 treasurer, or returned in accordance with the Real Estate Tax
3 Sale Law approved July 7, 1947, Pamphlet Laws 1368; or (4) in
4 the case of occupation, poll, and per capita taxes, accounted
5 for by payment over or by exoneration which shall be granted by
6 the taxing district upon oath or affirmation that as tax
7 collector he has complied with section 20 of the Local Tax
8 Collection Law approved May 25th, 1945 (Pamphlet Laws 1050). The
9 township treasurer and the township tax collector shall be
10 required to give but one bond, which shall include his duties as
11 township treasurer and tax collector of township, county,
12 school, institution district, and poor taxes, and shall cover
13 the full term of his office. Should the township, county, school
14 district, institution district or poor district be of the
15 opinion at any time, that the bond given is not sufficient,
16 additional security may be required to be given at the expense
17 of the taxing district requiring the same. The [treasurer] tax
18 collector shall not, in any event, be required to give bond or
19 bonds aggregating an amount in excess of the taxes to be
20 collected by him. The bond or bonds given by the township
21 [treasurer] tax collector shall be for the use of the township,
22 the county, the institution district, and the school district.
23 Said bond shall be filed with the township commissioners.
24 Section 8. Sections 805 and 806 of the act are amended to
25 read:
26 Section 805. Powers as Tax Collector.--The township
27 [treasurer, by virtue of his office as treasurer, shall be tax
28 collector. He] tax collector shall collect all county,
29 institution district, township, school, and other taxes, within
30 such township, levied by authorities empowered to levy taxes. He
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1 shall, in addition to the powers, duties, and responsibilities
2 enumerated in this act, have all the powers, perform all the
3 duties, and be subject to all the obligations and
4 responsibilities as are now by law vested in, conferred upon, or
5 imposed upon, collectors of the several classes of taxes
6 hereinbefore mentioned.
7 It is the purpose and intent of this section that no local
8 taxes shall be collected in any township, except by the
9 [treasurer] tax collector of the township.
10 Section 806. Oath.--The [treasurer] tax collector of every
11 township shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office
12 as collector of taxes for the county, take and subscribe an oath
13 of office and file the same in the office of the court of
14 [quarter sessions] common pleas.
15 Section 9. Section 1712 of the act, amended December 14,
16 1967 (P.L.819, No.351), is amended to read:
17 Section 1712. Delivery of Duplicates.--The board of township
18 commissioners shall within thirty days after adoption of the
19 budget or within thirty days after receipt of the assessment
20 roll from the county, whichever is later, deliver a duplicate of
21 the assessment of township taxes to the township [treasurer] tax
22 collector, together with their warrant for the collection of the
23 same.
24 Section 10. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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