PRINTER'S NO. 1353
No. 1147 Session of 1985
INTRODUCED BY FRYER, STUBAN, SWEET, A. C. FOSTER, JR. AND
SIRIANNI, MAY 7, 1985
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MAY 7, 1985
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 1, 1933 (P.L.103, No.69), entitled "An
2 act concerning townships of the second class; and amending,
3 revising, consolidating, and changing the law relating
4 thereto," further providing for the publication of a certain
5 notice relating to fiscal matters.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 547 of the act of May 1, 1933 (P.L.103,
9 No.69), known as The Second Class Township Code, reenacted and
10 amended July 10, 1947 (P.L.1481, No.567) and amended February 2,
11 1966 (1965 P.L.1887, No.601), March 2, 1970 (P.L.73, No.32) and
12 April 8, 1982 (P.L.256, No.77), is amended to read:
13 Section 547. Completion, Filing and Publication of Annual
14 Township Report and Financial Statement.--(a) The auditors
15 shall complete their audit, settlement, and adjustment prior to
16 March first of each year, and in townships having a population
17 of ten thousand (10,000) or less, no more than twenty days shall
18 be expended on such audit. In townships having a population in
19 excess of ten thousand (10,000), no more than forty days shall
1 be expended on such audit. In addition to the time actually
2 expended by the auditors to complete their audit, settlement and
3 adjustment within such twenty or forty days limitations, the
4 auditors may expend not more than a total of ten additional days
5 at a compensation of thirty dollars ($30) per day to audit the
6 accounts of any public official who handles public funds when a
7 vacancy occurs in the office of such public official.
8 (b) The auditors shall make a report, as hereinafter
9 provided, of the affairs of the township, executed copies of
10 which report shall be filed not later than ninety days after the
11 close of the fiscal year by the secretary of the auditors with
12 the secretary of the township, the clerk of the court of the
13 county, or the prothonotary as may be provided by local rules of
14 court, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Department
15 of Highways. Each copy of such report shall be signed by at
16 least a majority of the auditors, and duly verified by the oath
17 of the secretary of the auditors. Any secretary of auditors,
18 refusing or wilfully neglecting to file such township report, as
19 hereinbefore provided, or to publish the financial statement
20 herein required, shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary
21 proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine of five dollars for each
22 day's delay beyond the last day for filing such report, and
23 costs, or in default of the payment of such fine and costs, be
24 sentenced to imprisonment not exceeding ten days.
25 (c) The township report shall be presented on a uniform
26 form, prepared and furnished as hereinafter provided.
27 (d) The township report shall contain the names and
28 addresses of the chairman, members and secretary-treasurer of
29 the board of supervisors of the township, a statement of the
30 receipts of the township from all sources, and of all accounts
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1 and revenue which may be due and uncollected at the close of the
2 fiscal year, a statement of the disbursements of the township
3 during the fiscal year for the construction, reconstruction,
4 maintenance and repair of the roads, for the purchase and repair
5 of road equipment and machinery, the number of miles of road
6 opened, built and permanently improved, and the total number of
7 miles of road in the township, a statement of the balance in the
8 township treasury at the beginning of the fiscal year, a
9 statement of the resources and liabilities of the township at
10 the end of the fiscal year, a detailed statement of the
11 indebtedness of the township at the close of the fiscal year,
12 the provisions made for the payment thereof, together with the
13 purposes for which it was incurred, a statement of the cost of
14 ownership and operation of each and every public service
15 industry, owned, maintained or operated by the township, and
16 such more specific information, as may be required as
17 hereinafter provided.
18 (e) On or before March tenth of each year, the auditors
19 shall publish, by advertisement, once in at least one newspaper
20 of general circulation published in the township, or if no such
21 newspaper is published in the township, then in such a newspaper
22 circulating in the township, a concise financial statement
23 setting forth the balance in the treasury at the beginning of
24 the fiscal year, all revenues received during the fiscal year by
25 major classifications, all expenditures made during the fiscal
26 year by major functions, and the current resources and
27 liabilities of the township at the end of the fiscal year, the
28 gross liability and net debt of the township, the amount of the
29 assessed valuation of the township, the assets of the township
30 with the character and value thereof, the date of the last
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1 maturity of the respective forms of funded debt, and the assets
2 in the sinking fund. [Such publication shall be deemed
3 compliance with the provisions of the Municipal Borrowing Law,
4 which requires the corporate authorities of townships to publish
5 an annual statement of indebtedness.]
6 (f) If any township has a population of less than two
7 hundred, as shown by the last preceding decennial census of the
8 United States, the auditors may post five copies of the above
9 financial statement in public places in the township in lieu of
10 publication in a newspaper.
11 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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