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PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 82, 1047, 2952,
3818, 4250
PRINTER'S NO. 4304
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
104
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY GODSHALL, MOUL, GILLEN, B. MILLER AND KORTZ,
JANUARY 23, 2017
AMENDMENTS TO SENATE AMENDMENTS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
OCTOBER 17, 2018
AN ACT
Amending Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in municipal authorities, further
providing for money of authority and for transfer of existing
facilities to authority and providing for sale or transfer of
authority water or sewer infrastructure.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 5612(b) of Title 53 of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes is amended and the section is amended by
adding a subsection to read:
SECTION 1. SECTIONS 5612(B) AND 5613(B) OF TITLE 53 OF THE
PENNSYLVANIA CONSOLIDATED STATUTES ARE AMENDED TO READ:
§ 5612. Money of authority.
* * *
(b) Report.--[Every authority whose fiscal year ends
December 31 shall file on or before July 1 an annual report of
its fiscal affairs covering the preceding calendar year with the
Department of Community and Economic Development and with the
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municipality creating the authority on forms prepared and
distributed by the Department of Community and Economic
Development. Authorities whose fiscal year does not end on
December 31 shall file the report within 90 days after the end
of their fiscal year.]
(1) Every authority shall file, on or before 180 days
following the end of its fiscal year, an annual report of its
fiscal affairs covering the preceding fiscal year with the
Department of Community and Economic Development and with the
municipality or municipalities creating the authority on
forms prepared and distributed by the Department of Community
and Economic Development. The report shall also be posted on
the authority's publicly accessible Internet website. If the
authority does not maintain a publicly accessible Internet
website, the report shall be provided by electronic or other
means to any other municipality that has customers served by
the authority.
(2) Every authority shall have its books, accounts and
records audited annually by a certified public accountant,
and a copy of his audit report shall be filed in the same
manner and within the same time period as the annual report.
A concise financial statement shall be published annually at
least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the
municipality where the principal office of the authority is
located. If the publication is not made by the authority, the
municipality shall publish such statement at the expense of
the authority. If the authority fails to make such an audit,
then the controller, auditor or accountant designated by the
municipality is hereby authorized and empowered from time to
time to examine at the expense of the authority the accounts
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and books of it, including its receipts, disbursements,
contracts, leases, sinking funds, investments and any other
matters relating to its finances, operation and affairs.
* * *
(d) Auditor General.--The Auditor General, through agents as
the Auditor General may select, shall perform an audit of a
municipal authority located in a county of the third class with
a population of more than 355,000 but less than 400,000 as
determined by the 2010 census , incorporated pursuant to this
chapter as a public corporation of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania on April 15, 1942, and organized for the purpose of
providing municipal services, principally consisting of
operation of a water collection, treatment and distribution
system. The audit shall be a thorough review of all financial
information and examine the effectiveness, economy and
efficiency of the authority, including, but not limited to, a
review of billing systems, acquisitions of other municipal
authorities, contract processes and transparency, management
practices, conflicts of interest and compliance with relevant
Federal and State statutes by the authority, its board members
and its contractors. For this purpose, the Auditor General may
employ consultants, experts, accountants or investigators as the
Auditor General may deem advisable and conduct the audit
independently of any other audits. The audit shall be concluded
by December 31, 2019, and may include recommendations on how to
improve procedures and activities to enhance economy, efficiency
and effectiveness in any areas covered by the audit.
Section 2. Section 5613(b) of Title 53 is amended to read:
§ 5613. Transfer of existing facilities to authority.
* * *
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(b) Acquisition.--
(1) An authority may not acquire by any device or means,
including a consolidation, merger, purchase or lease or
through the purchase of stock, bonds or other securities,
title to or possession or use of all or a substantial portion
of any existing facilities constituting a project [as defined
under this chapter] if the project is subject to the
jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
without first reporting to and advising the municipality
which created or which are members of the authority of the
agreement to acquire, including all its terms and conditions.
(2) The proposed action of the authority and the
proposed agreement to acquire shall be approved by the
governing body of the municipality which created or which are
members of the authority and to which the report is made.
Where there are one or two member municipalities of the
authority, such approval shall be by two-thirds vote of all
of the members of the governing body or of each of the
governing bodies. If there are more than two member
municipalities of the authority, approval shall be by
majority vote of all the members of each governing body of
two-thirds of the member municipalities.
(3) An authority may not acquire by a device or means,
including a consolidation, merger, purchase or lease or
through the purchase of stock, bonds or other security, title
to or possession or use of all or a substantial portion of a
facility constituting a project, unless the authority has
discussed the acquisition at a public meeting and the written
minutes of the meeting contain details relating to the
anticipated or projected public benefit that will be realized
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by the acquisition. For purposes of this paragraph, a public
benefit may include rate reduction, improved service quality,
rate stabilization, improved service reliability, action
resulting from an agreement with a Federal or State
regulatory agency or other clearly defined benefit to a
ratepayer of the authority.
* * *
Section 3 2. Title 53 is amended by adding a section to
read:
§ 5613.1. Sale or transfer of authority water or sewer
infrastructure.
(a) Prohibition.--An authority may not sell or transfer
title to all or a portion of the water or sewer infrastructure
of the authority, unless the authority has discussed the sale or
transfer at a public meeting and the written minutes of the
meeting contain details relating to the anticipated or projected
public benefit that will be realized by the sale or transfer.
(b) Definition.--As used in this section, the term " public
benefit " may include a rate reduction, improved service quality,
rate stabilization, improved service reliability, action
resulting from an agreement with a Federal or State regulatory
agency or other clearly defined benefit to a ratepayer of the
authority.
Section 4 3. The addition of 53 Pa.C.S. § 5613(b)(3) shall
apply to title to or possession or use of all or a substantial
portion of a facility constituting a project which is acquired
on or after the effective date of this section.
Section 5 4. The addition of 53 Pa.C.S. § 5613.1 shall apply
to the sale or transfer of title to all or a portion of the
water or sewer infrastructure sold or transferred on or after
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the effective date of this section.
Section 6 5. This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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