PRINTER'S NO. 649
No. 594 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY FRYER, MORRIS, COLE, WEIDNER, RUGGIERO, ZELLER,
GARZIA, MELUSKEY, LIVENGOOD, SCHEAFFER, LEVI AND CALTAGIRONE,
MARCH 14, 1977
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, MARCH 14, 1977
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 25, 1945 (P.L.1050, No.394), entitled
2 "An act relating to the collection of taxes levied by
3 counties, county institution districts, cities of the third
4 class, boroughs, towns, townships, certain school districts
5 and vocational school districts; conferring powers and
6 imposing duties on tax collectors, courts and various
7 officers of said political subdivisions; and prescribing
8 penalties," authorizing the county commissioners to require
9 joint bidding of bonds for tax collectors.
10 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
11 hereby enacts as follows:
12 Section 1. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 4, act of May
13 25, 1945 (P.L.1050, No.394), known as the "Local Tax Collection
14 Law," amended June 5, 1947 (P.L.453, No.205) and subsection (b)
15 amended May 8, 1947 (P.L.172, No.75), May 22, 1953 (P.L.213,
16 No.24) and July 13, 1953 (P.L.411, No.90), are amended to read:
17 Section 4. Bonds of Tax Collectors.--(a) In cities of the
18 third class and in townships of the first class the treasurer,
19 as tax collector for the various taxing districts, shall give
20 bond secured and conditioned as provided by the laws relating to
21 such cities and townships. The board of commissioners of any
1 county by resolution adopted no later than November 1 of the
2 prior year may authorize and require for the following year the
3 joint bidding by the board of commissioners of bonds for all tax
4 collectors for the county, for cities of the third class, and
5 for townships of the first class. The joint bidding of the bonds
6 shall be subject to all provisions of this act not inconsistent
7 with the requirement of joint bidding.
8 (b) In boroughs, towns and townships of the second class,
9 the elected tax collector shall be the collector of borough,
10 town or township taxes, as the case may be, and of county,
11 county institution district, school district and vocational
12 school district taxes. He shall, before he enters upon the
13 duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath of office and
14 file the same in the office of the clerk of the court of
15 [quarter sessions] common pleas of the county. He shall enter
16 into one surety bond to the Commonwealth for all taxes to be
17 collected by him, in an amount to be fixed by the court of
18 [quarter sessions] common pleas of the county, which amount
19 shall never exceed the estimated amount of taxes charged in the
20 duplicates to be delivered to him in one year. Such bond may, at
21 the option of the tax collector, be an annual bond or may cover
22 the full term of office for which the tax collector shall have
23 been elected. Such bond shall have thereon at least one bonding
24 company, and the sufficiency of the sureties on the bond shall
25 be approved by the court of [quarter sessions] common pleas at
26 any time prior to the delivery of a tax duplicate to the tax
27 collector. The bond shall be filed in the office of the clerk of
28 the court of [quarter sessions] common pleas on or before the
29 fifteenth day of March of the year in which the tax collector
30 qualifies for office and annually thereafter, except where the
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1 first bond given by the tax collector covers the full term of
2 office for which he was elected. Should any of the taxing
3 districts be of the opinion, at any time, that the bond given by
4 the tax collector is not sufficient in amount, or as to the
5 surety thereon, the said taxing district may apply to the court
6 by petition to have the tax collector furnish additional bond in
7 the manner provided by this section. Thereupon the tax collector
8 shall furnish such additional bond, if any, as the court of
9 [quarter sessions] common pleas may prescribe, but not exceeding
10 the limitation as to the amount hereinbefore prescribed:
11 Provided, That where taxes for borough purposes are collected by
12 an appointee of council the bond shall be as may be prescribed
13 by council. The board of commissioners of any county by
14 resolution adopted no later than November 1 of the prior year
15 may authorize and require for the following year the joint
16 bidding by the board of commissioners of bonds for all tax
17 collectors for the county and for boroughs, incorporated towns
18 and townships of the second class, and school districts and
19 vocational school districts within the county. The joint bidding
20 of the bonds shall be subject to all provisions of this act not
21 inconsistent with the requirement of joint bidding.
22 * * *
23 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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