PRINTER'S NO. 1393
No. 1072 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ROBBINS, REGOLA, FERLO, ARMSTRONG, BAKER, BROWNE,
BRUBAKER, CORMAN, COSTA, EICHELBERGER, ERICKSON, FOLMER,
FONTANA, GORDNER, GREENLEAF, KASUNIC, LAVALLE, ORIE, PILEGGI,
PIPPY, PUNT, SCARNATI, STOUT, TOMLINSON, VANCE, WAUGH AND
WONDERLING, SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 23, 1931 (P.L.932, No.317), entitled
2 "An act relating to cities of the third class; and amending,
3 revising, and consolidating the law relating thereto,"
4 further regulating contracts as to purchasing and advertising
5 requirements.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 1901(a), (b) and (d) of the act of June
9 23, 1931 (P.L.932, No.317), known as The Third Class City Code,
10 reenacted and amended June 28, 1951 (P.L.662, No.164), amended
11 March 25, 1988 (P.L.289, No.32) and July 11, 1996 (P.L.647,
12 No.109), is amended to read:
13 Section 1901. Power to Make Contracts; Regulations
14 Concerning Contracts.--(a) Each city may make contracts for
15 carrying into execution the provisions of this act and the laws
16 of the Commonwealth. The council shall, by ordinance, provide
17 for and regulate the award of all contracts. All contracts or
18 purchases not in excess of [ten] twenty-five thousand dollars,
1 subject to annual adjustment under section one thousand nine
2 hundred and three of this act, shall be by note or memorandum in
3 writing, signed by the officer or employe making the purchase or
4 contract.
5 (b) All services and personal properties required by any
6 city, or any department thereof, where the amount exceeds the
7 sum of [ten] twenty-five thousand dollars, subject to annual
8 adjustment under section one thousand nine hundred and three of
9 this act, shall be furnished and performed under written
10 contract, and the contract shall be awarded and given to the
11 lowest responsible bidder, after advertising two times, each
12 publication on a different day, in not more than two newspapers,
13 in accord with the provisions of section one hundred and nine of
14 this act, and the bids shall not be opened until at least ten
15 days have elapsed after the first advertisement. A notice of the
16 advertisement for contracts or purchases shall also be posted at
17 the city hall.
18 * * *
19 (d) The contracts or purchases made by council involving an
20 expenditure of over [ten] twenty-five thousand dollars, subject
21 to annual adjustment under section one thousand nine hundred and
22 three of this act, which shall not require advertising or
23 bidding, as hereinbefore provided are as follows:
24 (1) Those for maintenance, repairs or replacements for
25 water, electric light or other public works of the city,
26 provided they do not constitute new additions, extensions or
27 enlargements of existing facilities and equipment, but a bond
28 may be required by council as in other cases of work done.
29 (2) Those made for improvements, repairs and maintenance of
30 any kind made or provided by any city through its own employes:
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1 Provided, however, That this shall not apply to construction
2 materials used in a street improvement.
3 (3) Those where particular types, models or pieces of new
4 equipment, articles, apparatus, appliances, vehicles, or parts
5 thereof, are desired by council, which are patented and
6 manufactured or copyrighted products.
7 (4) Those involving any policies of insurance or surety
8 company bonds; those made for public utility service under
9 tariffs on file with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission;
10 those made with another political subdivision or a county, the
11 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Federal government, any agency
12 of the Commonwealth or the Federal government, or any municipal
13 authority, including the sale, leasing or loan of any supplies
14 or materials by the Commonwealth or the Federal government, or
15 their agencies, but the price thereof shall not be in excess of
16 that fixed by the Commonwealth, the Federal government, or their
17 agencies.
18 (5) Those involving personal or professional services.
19 (6) Those made during a state of emergency declared by the
20 mayor or chief executive in accord with section one thousand two
21 hundred and three of this act.
22 * * *
23 Section 2. Section 1902 of the act, amended March 25, 1988
24 (P.L.289, No.32), is amended to read:
25 Section 1902. Evasion of Advertising Requirements.--No
26 member or members of council shall evade the provisions of the
27 preceding section as to advertising for bids by purchasing or
28 contracting for services and personal properties piecemeal for
29 the purpose of obtaining prices under [ten] twenty-five thousand
30 dollars, subject to annual adjustment under section one thousand
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1 nine hundred and three of this act, upon transactions which
2 should, in the exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence,
3 be conducted as one transaction amounting to more than [ten]
4 twenty-five thousand dollars, subject to annual adjustment under
5 section one thousand nine hundred and three of this act. This
6 provision is intended to make unlawful the practice of evading
7 advertising requirements by making a series of purchases or
8 contracts, each for less than the advertising requirement price,
9 or by making several simultaneous purchases or contracts, each
10 below said price, when, in either case, the transactions
11 involved should have been made as one transaction for one price.
12 Any members of council who so vote in violation of this
13 provision and who know that the transaction upon which they so
14 vote is or ought to be a part of a larger transaction and that
15 it is being divided in order to evade the requirements as to
16 advertising for bids, shall be jointly and severally subject to
17 surcharge for ten per centum of the full amount of the contract
18 or purchase. Wherever it shall appear that a member of council
19 may have voted in violation of this section but the purchase or
20 contract on which he so voted was not approved by council, this
21 section shall be inapplicable.
22 Section 3. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
23 Section 1903.1. Adjustments Based on Consumer Price Index
24 for All Urban Consumers.--(a) Annually, beginning with the year
25 in which this subsection becomes applicable to contracts and
26 purchases, the Department of Labor and Industry shall calculate
27 the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
28 Consumers (CPI-U) for the United States city average for all
29 items as published by the United States Department of Labor,
30 Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the twelve-month average ending
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1 in September of the prior year.
2 (b) The amounts at which competitive bidding and separate
3 bids are required under this act shall be adjusted annually. The
4 positive percentage change, as determined in accordance with
5 subsection (a), shall be multiplied by the applicable amount for
6 the current year and the product thereof shall be added to the
7 applicable amount for the current year, with the result rounded
8 to the nearest multiple of ten dollars.
9 (c) The annual determination required under subsection (a)
10 and the calculation of the adjustments required under subsection
11 (b) shall be made in the period between October 1 and November
12 15 of the year following the effective date of this section, and
13 annually between October 1 and November 15 of each successive
14 year.
15 (d) The adjusted amounts obtained in accordance with
16 subsection (b) shall become effective January 1 for the calendar
17 year following the year in which the determination required
18 under subsection (a) is made.
19 (e) The Department of Labor and Industry shall give notice
20 in the Pennsylvania Bulletin prior to January 1 of each calendar
21 year of the annual percentage change determined in accordance
22 with subsection (a) and the amounts, whether adjusted or
23 unadjusted in accordance with subsection (b), at which
24 competitive bidding, advertising and separate bids are required
25 under this act for the calendar year beginning the first day of
26 January after publication of the notice.
27 Section 4. Section 1909 of the act, amended March 25, 1988
28 (P.L.289, No.32), is amended to read:
29 Section 1909. Separate Bids for Plumbing, Heating,
30 Ventilating and Electrical Work, Elevators and Moving Stairs.--
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1 In the preparation of specifications for the erection,
2 construction, and alteration of any public building, when the
3 entire cost of such work shall exceed [ten] twenty-five thousand
4 dollars, subject to annual adjustment under section one thousand
5 nine hundred and three of this act, the architect, engineer, or
6 other person preparing such specifications, shall prepare only
7 the following separate specifications; (1) plumbing, (2)
8 heating, (3) ventilating, (4) electrical work, (5) elevators and
9 moving stairs, and (6) one complete set of specifications for
10 all the other work to be done in such erection, construction and
11 alteration. The person or persons authorized to enter into
12 contracts for the erection, construction, or alteration of such
13 public buildings shall receive separate bids upon each of the
14 said branches of work, and award the contract for the same to
15 the lowest responsible bidder for each of said branches,
16 including the balance of the work in addition to the plumbing,
17 heating, ventilating and electrical work and elevators and
18 moving stairs. Where it is desired to install an air
19 conditioning unit, the heating and ventilating so involved may
20 be regarded as one branch of work having only one set of
21 specifications, and bids may be received and a contract awarded
22 thereon as hereinbefore provided.
23 Section 5. This act shall apply to contracts and purchases
24 advertised on or after January 1 of the year following the
25 effective date of this section.
26 Section 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
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