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PRINTER'S NO. 3983
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
895
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY GAYDOS, READSHAW, CALTAGIRONE AND JOZWIAK,
JUNE 23, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 23, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Directing the Joint State Government Commission to conduct a
study on the impact of common interest ownership communities
on local governments and the Commonwealth, the challenges
facing residents and governing bodies of common interest
ownership communities and opportunities for the Commonwealth
to assist local governments and common interest ownership
communities to deliver adequate services to their residents
at an affordable cost.
WHEREAS, According to the Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley
Chapter of the Community Associations Institute, there are
between 6,000 and 10,000 common interest ownership communities
in which up to one-quarter of property owners in this
Commonwealth live; and
WHEREAS, Municipal elected bodies and their planning
commissions encourage new housing developments be created as
common interest ownership communities to share the burden of
municipal costs by delegating some traditionally municipal
services to self-governing communities; and
WHEREAS, The services may include road maintenance, snow
plowing, trash collection, lighting and sewer and water
infrastructure maintenance within the common interest ownership
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communities; and
WHEREAS, Common interest ownership communities provide some
of the same services that municipalities in which these
communities are located provide to individuals who do not live
in common interest ownership communities; and
WHEREAS, As a result, residents of common interest
communities often pay assessments to their community association
and pay municipal taxes which payments are often perceived as
double municipal taxation but not necessarily for the same
services; and
WHEREAS, Residents of common interest communities contribute
to both State-funded programs and local municipal budgets that
provide infrastructure improvements with their tax dollars, but
residents of community associations are often ineligible to
apply for, or be serviced by, these State programs and municipal
resources to address infrastructure needs; and
WHEREAS, The public benefits from various types of
infrastructure within common interest communities; and
WHEREAS, Because many private wells and on-lot septic systems
within common interest communities were constructed before the
enactment of the Uniform Construction Code, municipalities in
which they are located may not have inspected the wells or be
aware of their existence and these wells may be at the end of
their operational lives or may be contaminating the groundwater;
and
WHEREAS, There have been concerns regarding the ability of
State agencies to contact common interest owned communities
regarding responsibilities that they may hold to comply with
State laws or regulations, or notify them of any changes with
which the common interest ownership communities must satisfy;
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and
WHEREAS, There are questions regarding emergency services and
law enforcement's ability to easily identify and respond to in
common interest ownership communities; and
WHEREAS, For example, Pennsylvania's Megan's Law imposes on a
municipality's "chief law enforcement officer" the obligation to
inform "neighbors" of the presence of a sexually violent
predator, but law enforcement has asserted that due to the lack
of easily accessible information from any unit of State or local
government, law enforcement is substantially hindered or
prevented from enforcing this provision of Megan's Law; and
WHEREAS, Continued foreclosure rates have made it difficult
for common interest ownership communities to collect assessments
from some residents, thereby making it more difficult to
maintain the commonly held property within these communities;
and
WHEREAS, Pursuant to House Resolution No. 350 of 2009, the
Joint State Government Commission conducted and completed a
study of the impact of common interest ownership communities;
and
WHEREAS, It has been almost 10 years since the Joint State
Government Commission published a report in December 2011
pursuant to House Resolution No. 350 of 2009; and
WHEREAS, In the intervening decade, common interest ownership
communities have become more common across this Commonwealth;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives direct the Joint
State Government Commission to conduct a follow-up study to the
study produced in 2011 on the impact of common interest
ownership communities as described under the Real Estate
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Cooperative Act, the Uniform Condominium Act and the Uniform
Planned Community Act on local governments and the Commonwealth,
the challenges facing the residents and governing bodies of
common interest ownership communities, as well as the public at
large, and review and recommend opportunities for the
Commonwealth to assist local governments and common interest
ownership communities to deliver adequate services to their
residents at an affordable cost; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission study
shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) the number of common interest ownership communities
in each county;
(2) the number of common interest ownership communities
in each municipality;
(3) the approximate amount of State taxes paid each year
by residents of common interest ownership communities;
(4) the approximate amount of local taxes paid each year
by residents of common interest ownership communities to each
municipality;
(5) the amount and age of current infrastructure within
the common interest ownership communities;
(6) the impact of allowing common interest ownership
communities to access State funds for infrastructure
improvements;
(7) whether there are opportunities for the Commonwealth
to assist local governments and common interest ownership
communities to deliver adequate services to their residents
at an affordable cost;
(8) to what extent State agencies require information on
common interest ownership communities in order to fulfill
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their legal and statutory requirements for the Pennsylvania
residents they serve; and
(9) to what extent State and local law enforcement
require information on common interest ownership communities
in order to fully serve these communities and administer
public safety;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission report
its findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives
no later than one year after the adoption of this resolution.
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