THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY ROBBINS, EICHELBERGER, KASUNIC, FOLMER, GORDNER, BOSCOLA, ORIE, RAFFERTY, YAW, M. WHITE, D. WHITE, ERICKSON, BAKER, ALLOWAY, BRUBAKER, GREENLEAF, SMUCKER, WAUGH, FERLO, VANCE, EARLL, SCARNATI, McILHINNEY AND PICCOLA, JANUARY 26, 2011

REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 26, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of June 23, 1931 (P.L.932, No.317), entitled

"An act relating to cities of the third class; and amending,

revising, and consolidating the law relating thereto,"

further regulating contracts as to purchasing and advertising

requirements.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 1901(a), (b) and (d) of the act of June

23, 1931 (P.L.932, No.317), known as The Third Class City Code,

reenacted and amended June 28, 1951 (P.L.662, No.164), amended

March 25, 1988 (P.L.289, No.32) and July 11, 1996 (P.L.647, No.

109), is amended to read:

Section 1901.  Power to Make Contracts; Regulations

Concerning Contracts.--(a)  Each city may make contracts for

carrying into execution the provisions of this act and the laws

of the Commonwealth. The council shall, by ordinance, provide

for and regulate the award of all contracts. All contracts or

purchases not in excess of [ten] twenty-five thousand dollars,

subject to adjustment under section one thousand nine hundred

and three point one of this act, shall be by note or memorandum

in writing, signed by the officer or employe making the purchase

or contract.

(b)  All services and personal properties required by any

city, or any department thereof, where the amount exceeds the

sum of [ten] twenty-five thousand dollars, subject to adjustment

under section one thousand nine hundred and three point one of

this act, shall be furnished and performed under written

contract, and the contract shall be awarded and given to the

lowest responsible bidder, after advertising two times, each

publication on a different day, in not more than two newspapers,

in accord with the provisions of section one hundred and nine of

this act, and the bids shall not be opened until at least ten

days have elapsed after the first advertisement. A notice of the

advertisement for contracts or purchases shall also be posted at

the city hall.

* * *

(d)  The contracts or purchases made by council involving an

expenditure of over [ten] twenty-five thousand dollars, subject

to adjustment under section one thousand nine hundred and three

point one of this act, which shall not require advertising or

bidding, as hereinbefore provided are as follows:

(1)  Those for maintenance, repairs or replacements for

water, electric light or other public works of the city,

provided they do not constitute new additions, extensions or

enlargements of existing facilities and equipment, but a bond

may be required by council as in other cases of work done.

(2)  Those made for improvements, repairs and maintenance of

any kind made or provided by any city through its own employes:

Provided, however, That this shall not apply to construction

materials used in a street improvement.

(3)  Those where particular types, models or pieces of new

equipment, articles, apparatus, appliances, vehicles, or parts

thereof, are desired by council, which are patented and

manufactured or copyrighted products.

(4)  Those involving any policies of insurance or surety

company bonds; those made for public utility service under

tariffs on file with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission;

those made with another political subdivision or a county, the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Federal government, any agency

of the Commonwealth or the Federal government, or any municipal

authority, including the sale, leasing or loan of any supplies

or materials by the Commonwealth or the Federal government, or

their agencies, but the price thereof shall not be in excess of

that fixed by the Commonwealth, the Federal government, or their

agencies.

(5)  Those involving personal or professional services.

(6)  Those made during a state of emergency declared by the

mayor or chief executive in accord with section one thousand two

hundred and three of this act.

* * *

Section 2.  Section 1902 of the act, amended March 25, 1988

(P.L.289, No.32), is amended to read:

Section 1902.  Evasion of Advertising Requirements.--No

member or members of council shall evade the provisions of the

preceding section as to advertising for bids by purchasing or

contracting for services and personal properties piecemeal for

the purpose of obtaining prices under [ten] twenty-five thousand

dollars, subject to adjustment under section one thousand nine

hundred and three point one of this act, upon transactions which

should, in the exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence,

be conducted as one transaction amounting to more than [ten]

twenty-five thousand dollars, subject to adjustment under

section one thousand nine hundred and three point one of this

act. This provision is intended to make unlawful the practice of

evading advertising requirements by making a series of purchases

or contracts, each for less than the advertising requirement

price, or by making several simultaneous purchases or contracts,

each below said price, when, in either case, the transactions

involved should have been made as one transaction for one price.

Any members of council who so vote in violation of this

provision and who know that the transaction upon which they so

vote is or ought to be a part of a larger transaction and that

it is being divided in order to evade the requirements as to

advertising for bids, shall be jointly and severally subject to

surcharge for ten per centum of the full amount of the contract

or purchase. Wherever it shall appear that a member of council

may have voted in violation of this section but the purchase or

contract on which he so voted was not approved by council, this

section shall be inapplicable.

Section 3.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 1903.1.  Adjustments Based on Consumer Price Index

for All Urban Consumers.--(a)  Every five years, beginning with

the year in which this subsection becomes applicable to

contracts and purchases, the Department of Labor and Industry

shall calculate the average percentage change in the Consumer

Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the United

States city average for all items as published by the United

States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the

preceding five years.

(b)  The amounts at which competitive bidding and separate

bids are required under this act shall be adjusted every five

years. The positive percentage change, as determined in

accordance with subsection (a), shall be multiplied by the

applicable amount for the current five-year period and the

product thereof shall be added to the applicable amount for the

current five-year period, with the result rounded to the nearest

multiple of one hundred.

(c)  The determination required under subsection (a) and the

calculation of the adjustments required under subsection (b)

shall be made in the period between October 1 and November 15 of

the year following the effective date of this section, and

between October 1 and November 15 of each successive year.

(d)  The adjusted amounts obtained in accordance with

subsection (b) shall become effective January 1 for the five-

year period following the year in which the determination

required under subsection (a) is made.

(e)  The Department of Labor and Industry shall give notice

in the Pennsylvania Bulletin prior to January 1 of each calendar

year in which the percentage change determined in accordance

with subsection (a) and the amounts, whether adjusted or

unadjusted in accordance with subsection (b), at which

competitive bidding, advertising and separate bids are required

under this act for the five-year period beginning the first day

of January after publication of the notice.

Section 4.  Section 1909 of the act, amended March 25, 1988

(P.L.289, No.32), is amended to read:

Section 1909.  Separate Bids for Plumbing, Heating,

Ventilating and Electrical Work, Elevators and Moving Stairs.--

In the preparation of specifications for the erection,

construction, and alteration of any public building, when the

entire cost of such work shall exceed [ten] twenty-five thousand

dollars, subject to adjustment under section one thousand nine

hundred and three point one of this act, the architect,

engineer, or other person preparing such specifications, shall

prepare only the following separate specifications; (1)

plumbing, (2) heating, (3) ventilating, (4) electrical work, (5)

elevators and moving stairs, and (6) one complete set of

specifications for all the other work to be done in such

erection, construction and alteration. The person or persons

authorized to enter into contracts for the erection,

construction, or alteration of such public buildings shall

receive separate bids upon each of the said branches of work,

and award the contract for the same to the lowest responsible

bidder for each of said branches, including the balance of the

work in addition to the plumbing, heating, ventilating and

electrical work and elevators and moving stairs. Where it is

desired to install an air conditioning unit, the heating and

ventilating so involved may be regarded as one branch of work

having only one set of specifications, and bids may be received

and a contract awarded thereon as hereinbefore provided.

Section 5.  This act shall apply to contracts and purchases

advertised on or after January 1 of the year following the

effective date of this section.

Section 6.  This act shall take effect immediately.