PRINTER'S NO. 785
No. 699 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ROSS, MILLARD, THOMAS, BELFANTI, BOYD, BROOKS,
CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, CLYMER, COX, CREIGHTON, DENLINGER,
EVERETT, FRANKEL, GEIST, GINGRICH, GRELL, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY,
HESS, HICKERNELL, KAUFFMAN, KORTZ, KOTIK, McILHATTAN, NICKOL,
PALLONE, PEIFER, PICKETT, PYLE, RAPP, REICHLEY, RUBLEY,
SCHRODER, SEIP, SONNEY, STABACK, YOUNGBLOOD AND J. WHITE,
MARCH 9, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MARCH 9, 2007
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," further providing for suits and property.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Section 1501 of the act of June 24, 1931
8 (P.L.1206, No.331), known as The First Class Township Code,
9 reenacted and amended May 27, 1949 (P.L.1955, No.569) and
10 amended December 19, 1997 (P.L.618, No.64), is amended to read:
11 Section 1501. Suits; Property.--Townships of the first class
12 may--
13 I. Sue and be sued.
14 II. Purchase, acquire by gift, or otherwise, hold, lease,
15 let and convey, by sale or lease, such real and personal
16 property as shall be deemed to be to the best interest of the
1 township: Provided, That no real estate owned by the township
2 shall be sold for a consideration in excess of one thousand five
3 hundred dollars except to the highest bidder after due notice by
4 advertisement for bids or advertisement of a public auction in
5 one newspaper of general circulation in the township. Such
6 advertisement shall be published once not less than ten days
7 prior to the date fixed for the opening of bids or public
8 auction, and such date for opening bids or public auction shall
9 be announced in such advertisement. The award of contracts shall
10 be made only by public announcement at a regular or special
11 meeting of the board of township commissioners or at the public
12 auction. All bids shall be accepted on the condition that
13 payment of the purchase price in full shall be made within sixty
14 days of the acceptance of bids.
15 The board of township commissioners shall have the authority
16 to reject all bids if such bids are deemed to be less than the
17 fair market value of the real property. In the case of a public
18 auction, the board of township commissioners may establish a
19 minimum bid based on the fair market value of the real property.
20 Except as otherwise hereinafter provided in the case of
21 personal property of an estimated fair market value of less than
22 one thousand dollars, no township personal property shall be
23 disposed of, by sale or otherwise, except upon approval of the
24 board of township commissioners, by ordinance or resolution. In
25 cases where the board of township commissioners shall approve a
26 sale of such property, it shall estimate the fair market value
27 of the entire lot to be disposed of. If the board of township
28 commissioners shall estimate the fair market value to be one
29 thousand dollars or more, the entire lot shall be advertised for
30 sale once, in at least one newspaper of general circulation in
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1 the township, not less than ten days prior to the date fixed for
2 the opening of bids or public auction, and such date of opening
3 of bids or public auction shall be announced in such
4 advertisement, and sale of the property so advertised shall be
5 made to the best responsible bidder. A public auction of
6 personal property may be conducted by means of an online or
7 electronic auction sale. During an electronic auction sale, bids
8 shall be accepted electronically at the time and in the manner
9 designated in the advertisement. During the electronic auction,
10 each bidder shall have the capability to view the bidder's bid
11 rank or the high bid price. Bidders may increase their bid
12 prices during the electronic auction. The record of the
13 electronic auction shall be accessible for public inspection.
14 The purchase price shall be paid by the high bidder immediately
15 or at a reasonable time after the conclusion of the electronic
16 auction as determined by the board of township commissioners. In
17 the event that shipping costs are incurred, they shall be paid
18 by the high bidder. A township that has complied with the
19 advertising requirements of this clause may provide additional
20 public notice of the sale by bids or public auction in any
21 manner deemed appropriate by the board of township
22 commissioners. The advertisement for electronic auction sales
23 authorized in this clause shall include the Internet address or
24 means of accessing the electronic auction and the date, time and
25 duration of the electronic auction. The board of township
26 commissioners may reject any bids received if the bids are
27 believed to be less than the fair market value of the property.
28 The board of township commissioners shall, by resolution, adopt
29 a procedure for the sale of surplus personal property, either
30 individual items or lots of items, of an estimated fair market
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1 value of less than one thousand dollars and the approval of the
2 board of township commissioners shall not be required for any
3 individual sale that shall be made in conformity to such
4 procedure.
5 The provisions of this clause shall not be mandatory where
6 township property is to be traded in or exchanged for new
7 township property.
8 The provisions of this clause shall not prohibit the sale or
9 exchange of township property to public utilities.
10 The provisions of this clause requiring advertising for bids
11 or sale at public auction and sale to the highest bidder shall
12 not apply where township real or personal property is to be sold
13 to a county, city, borough, town, township, institution
14 district, school district, volunteer fire company, volunteer
15 ambulance service or volunteer rescue squad located within the
16 township, or [municipal authority pursuant to the Municipality
17 Authorities Act of 1945] authority as defined in 53 Pa.C.S. §
18 5602 (relating to definitions), or to a nonprofit corporation
19 engaged in community industrial, commercial or affordable
20 housing development or reuse or where real property is to be
21 sold to a person for his exclusive use in an industrial
22 development program or where real property is to be sold to a
23 nonprofit corporation organized as a public library, or where
24 real property is to be sold to a nonprofit medical service
25 corporation as authorized by clause LXXII of section 1502, or
26 where real property is to be sold to a nonprofit housing
27 corporation as authorized by clause LXXIII of section 1502. When
28 real property is to be sold to a nonprofit corporation organized
29 as a public library or to a nonprofit medical service
30 corporation or to a nonprofit housing corporation the board of
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1 township commissioners may elect to accept such nominal
2 consideration for such sale as it shall deem appropriate. Real
3 property sold pursuant to this clause to a volunteer fire
4 company, volunteer ambulance service or volunteer rescue squad,
5 nonprofit medical service corporation or to a nonprofit housing
6 corporation shall be subject to the condition that when the
7 property is not used for the purposes of the company, service,
8 squad or the corporation the property shall revert to the
9 township.
10 Any officer who sells and each officer who votes in favor of
11 selling any township property, either real or personal, without
12 the provisions of this section having been complied with, shall
13 be subject to surcharge in the amount of any loss sustained by
14 the township by reason of such sale.
15 The exemption granted by this clause to nonprofit
16 corporations engaged in community, industrial, commercial or
17 affordable housing development or reuse shall not apply to
18 property owned and operated by the township or subcontracted or
19 operated on the behalf of the township in order to conduct
20 existing governmental functions.
21 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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