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        PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 894                       PRINTER'S NO. 1833

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


HOUSE BILL

No. 773 Session of 2007


        INTRODUCED BY ARGALL, BAKER, BELFANTI, BOYD, CALTAGIRONE,
           CAPPELLI, CAUSER, CLYMER, COX, CREIGHTON, EVERETT, GEIST,
           GIBBONS, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HARHAI, HARRIS, HENNESSEY, HESS,
           M. KELLER, KILLION, KOTIK, LEVDANSKY, MAHONEY, MYERS,
           PALLONE, PHILLIPS, PICKETT, PYLE, RAPP, REICHLEY, SAINATO,
           SCAVELLO, SOLOBAY, R. STEVENSON, SURRA, THOMAS, WALKO,
           WATSON, YOUNGBLOOD, SIPTROTH AND CONKLIN, MARCH 19, 2007

        AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, HOUSE OF
           REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, JUNE 5, 2007

                                     AN ACT

     1  Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), entitled
     2     "An act providing for and reorganizing the conduct of the
     3     executive and administrative work of the Commonwealth by the
     4     Executive Department thereof and the administrative
     5     departments, boards, commissions, and officers thereof,
     6     including the boards of trustees of State Normal Schools, or
     7     Teachers Colleges; abolishing, creating, reorganizing or
     8     authorizing the reorganization of certain administrative
     9     departments, boards, and commissions; defining the powers and
    10     duties of the Governor and other executive and administrative
    11     officers, and of the several administrative departments,
    12     boards, commissions, and officers; fixing the salaries of the
    13     Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and certain other executive
    14     and administrative officers; providing for the appointment of
    15     certain administrative officers, and of all deputies and
    16     other assistants and employes in certain departments, boards,
    17     and commissions; and prescribing the manner in which the
    18     number and compensation of the deputies and all other
    19     assistants and employes of certain departments, boards and
    20     commissions shall be determined," further providing for
    21     disposition of unserviceable personal property; and providing
    22     for disposition of surplus vehicles to qualified
    23     municipalities.

    24     The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
    25  hereby enacts as follows:


     1     Section 1.  Section 510 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177,
     2  No.175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929, amended July
     3  18, 1969 (P.L.165, No.67), is amended to read:
     4     Section 510.  Disposition of Unserviceable Personal Property;
     5  Surplus or Unserviceable Road, Bridge Materials or Equipment.--
     6  (a)  Whenever any furnishings, or other personal property of
     7  this Commonwealth, shall be no longer of service to the
     8  Commonwealth, it shall be the duty of the department, board, or
     9  commission, in whose possession such property shall be or come,
    10  to put such property into the custody of the Department of
    11  [Property and Supplies] General Services: Provided, however,
    12  That in the case of any perishable property which is not in the
    13  city of Harrisburg, the department, board, or commission, having
    14  possession of the same, may sell it in such manner, and upon
    15  such terms, as the head of the department, or the board, or
    16  commission, may determine: And provided further, That any road
    17  or bridge materials or equipment that have been declared surplus
    18  or unserviceable by the Department of [Highways] Transportation
    19  shall be offered for sale to counties, cities, boroughs,
    20  incorporated towns and townships at the best available price by
    21  the Department of [Property and Supplies] General Services.
    22  Written notification of the availability of such material and
    23  equipment shall be given to all counties, cities, boroughs,
    24  incorporated towns and townships in the highway district in
    25  which such material and equipment was last used. If more than
    26  one such political subdivision requests the same material or
    27  equipment, any sale shall be made to the political subdivision
    28  making the highest letter bid. No sale shall be consummated
    29  until after a minimum of fifteen (15) days from the date of
    30  mailing the notification. All such material and equipment shall
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     1  be used by the procuring political subdivision upon roads,
     2  streets and bridges. All moneys received for such material shall
     3  be deposited in the Motor License Fund.
     4     (b)  Subsection (a) shall apply to the disposition of a
     5  surplus vehicle only if the surplus vehicle is not disposed of
     6  in accordance with section 510.1.
     7     ["Unserviceable property," as used in this section,] (c)
     8  "Unserviceable property" shall not include products
     9  manufactured, grown, or raised, by any department, board, or
    10  commission, or by the inmates or patients of any State
    11  institution, or minerals, oil, gas, or other materials, taken
    12  from any property of the Commonwealth. It shall include only
    13  articles previously purchased by the Commonwealth, or any agency
    14  thereof, and paid for out of funds of or in the control of the
    15  Commonwealth.
    16     Section 2.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:
    17     Section 510.1.  Disposition of Surplus Vehicles to Qualified
    18  Municipalities.--(a)  Prior to employing the procedure for
    19  disposing property under section 510(a), surplus vehicles shall
    20  be offered for disposal to qualified municipalities in
    21  accordance with the procedures and priorities and for the
    22  consideration, if any, established under this section.
    23     (b)  In the disposition of surplus vehicles to qualified
    24  municipalities, the following classes of priority shall apply:
    25     (1)  First priority shall be given to a qualified
    26  municipality that is a financially distressed municipality, as
    27  defined in section 203(f) of the act of July 10, 1987 (P.L.246,
    28  No.47), known as the "Municipalities Financial Recovery Act."
    29     (2)  Second priority shall be given to a qualified
    30  municipality that requests the surplus vehicle as part of a
    20070H0773B1833                  - 3 -     

     1  council of governments on which it has membership or through an
     2  intergovernmental cooperation agreement to which it is a party,
     3  in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S. Ch. 23 Subch. A (relating to
     4  Intergovernmental Cooperation), provided that the surplus
     5  vehicle furthers the purpose of the council of governments or
     6  intergovernmental cooperation agreement. In order to qualify for
     7  this priority, one of the members of a council of governments or
     8  parties to an intergovernmental cooperation agreement must be a
     9  qualified municipality.
    10     (3)  Third priority shall be given to a qualified
    11  municipality that does not meet the criteria of paragraph (1) or
    12  (2).
    13     (c)  If more than one qualified municipality in the same
    14  priority class under subsection (b) is interested in the same
    15  surplus vehicle, the department shall determine which qualified
    16  municipality in the class shall be given preference, in
    17  accordance with standards established by the department, which
    18  may include, but need not be limited to, the following:
    19     (1)  A municipality's rate of individual poverty as
    20  determined by the most recent Federal decennial census,
    21  currently found in the U.S. Census Bureau's Table DP-3, Profile
    22  of Selected Economic Characteristics.
    23     (2)  A municipality that has levied the maximum allowable
    24  real estate tax for general purposes and earned income tax as
    25  provided by applicable law.
    26     (3)  A municipality's demonstrated need for the vehicle to be
    27  acquired.
    28     (d)  In addition to paying the cost, if any, of transporting
    29  the surplus vehicle from its location to the municipality, a
    30  qualified municipality that acquires a surplus vehicle in
    20070H0773B1833                  - 4 -     

     1  accordance with this section shall pay the following
     2  consideration:
     3     (1)  A qualified municipality in the first priority class
     4  under subsection (b)(1) shall not be required to pay anything
     5  towards the fair market value established by the department.
     6     (2)  A qualified municipality in the second priority class
     7  under subsection (b)(2) shall pay twenty-five percent (25%) of
     8  the fair market value established by the department.
     9     (3)  A qualified municipality in the third priority class
    10  under subsection (b)(3) shall pay fifty percent (50%) of the
    11  fair market value established by the department.
    12  All moneys received for such surplus vehicles shall be deposited
    13  in the Motor License Fund.
    14     (e)  In administering the provisions of this section, the
    15  department shall have the following powers and duties:
    16     (1)  To notify all municipalities in this Commonwealth of the
    17  existence of the program set forth in this section.
    18     (2)  To provide for and develop the application process for
    19  municipalities to apply to become qualified municipalities and
    20  in order to establish that they meet the criteria of a qualified
    21  municipality as defined in this section.
    22     (3)  To develop procedures by which qualified municipalities
    23  are notified, either through printed or electronic means, of
    24  available surplus vehicles.
    25     (4)  To develop the process by which qualified municipalities
    26  may request a particular surplus vehicle, which request form
    27  shall state that the qualified municipality understands and
    28  accepts that the department's selection of a qualified
    29  municipality for each surplus vehicle is final and unappealable.
    30     (5)  To establish deadlines for:
    20070H0773B1833                  - 5 -     

     1     (i)  Requests for surplus vehicles to be received by the
     2  department.
     3     (ii)  Notification by the department to the qualified
     4  municipality of a surplus vehicle or vehicles for which it has
     5  been selected to receive or purchase.
     6     (iii)  Payment for the surplus vehicle or vehicles by the
     7  selected qualified municipality.
     8     (iv)  Conveyance of the surplus vehicle or vehicles to the
     9  selected qualified municipality.
    10     (6)  To promulgate regulations and take other action
    11  necessary to carry out the program set forth in this section.
    12     (f)  Qualified municipalities that participate in the program
    13  authorized by this section or municipalities applying to become
    14  a qualified municipality, as relevant, shall have the following
    15  duties:
    16     (1)  To submit to the department a completed application form
    17  to become a qualified municipality which form shall include, but
    18  not necessarily be limited to, an attestation clause to be
    19  signed by the presiding officer of the municipality's governing
    20  body that the submitted copy of the municipality's most recently
    21  enacted ordinance adopting the municipality's annual budget is
    22  true and accurate and that the submitted Federal decennial
    23  information regarding the municipality is as published by the
    24  U.S. Census Bureau for the most recent Federal decennial census.
    25     (2)  To submit to the department a timely request for the
    26  desired surplus vehicle or vehicles.
    27     (3)  To promptly pay the cost, if any, of the surplus vehicle
    28  or vehicles awarded by the department.
    29     (4)  To arrange for the transportation or pickup of the
    30  surplus vehicle or vehicles from its location to the selected
    20070H0773B1833                  - 6 -     

     1  qualified municipality's location.
     2     (5)  To use any surplus vehicle that has been received
     3  through the process set forth in this section for municipal
     4  purposes or, if the qualified municipality disposes of the
     5  vehicle, that the disposal shall only be done in accordance with
     6  the applicable statute for that class of municipality for
     7  disposal of personal property and, in which case, the proceeds
     8  shall be returned to the Commonwealth and deposited in the Motor
     9  License Fund.
    10     (g)  As used in this section, the following words and phrases
    11  shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection:
    12     "ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET."  THE ANNUAL FINANCIAL PLAN OF A     <--
    13  MUNICIPALITY THAT SETS FORTH ANTICIPATED EXPENDITURES FROM
    14  VARIOUS MUNICIPAL FUNDS, INCLUDING EXPENDITURES FROM THE GENERAL
    15  FUND, SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS AND PROPRIETARY FUNDS FOR THE
    16  PURPOSE OF SATISFYING MUNICIPAL OPERATING COSTS, BUT EXCLUDING
    17  OUTLAYS FOR NONRECURRING CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND APPROPRIATIONS
    18  TO AND EXPENDITURES FROM THE CAPITAL RESERVE FUND OF THE
    19  MUNICIPALITY.
    20     "Department."  The Department of General Services of the
    21  Commonwealth.
    22     "Qualified municipality."  A municipality within this
    23  Commonwealth that has certified to the Department of General
    24  Services in accordance with this section that it has four
    25  thousand (4,000) or fewer residents and an annual operating
    26  budget, excluding capital improvements of one million five        <--
    27  hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000), or less.
    28     "Surplus vehicle."  Any vehicle, as defined by 75 Pa.C.S.
    29  (relating to vehicles), that has been declared surplus or
    30  unserviceable, as defined in section 510, by the Department of
    20070H0773B1833                  - 7 -     

     1  Transportation of the Commonwealth and which has been assigned a
     2  fair market value by the Department of General Services.
     3     Section 3.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.


















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