PRINTER'S NO. 529
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
495
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY KEARNEY, HUTCHINSON, MARTIN, J. WARD AND SCHWANK,
MARCH 29, 2019
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MARCH 29, 2019
AN ACT
Amending Title 8 (Boroughs and Incorporated Towns) of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in elections of officers,
further providing for decrease in number of members of
council.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 818(a) and (b) of Title 8 of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
ยง 818. Decrease in number of members of council.
(a) Petition by electors.--The court of common pleas [may]
shall, upon petition of at least 5% of the registered electors
of any borough not divided into wards, which, according to the
latest official census, had a population of not more than 3,000,
certify the question of a proposal to reduce the total number of
members of council for the borough from seven to five or to
three[.], as specified by the petition, to the board of election
of the county for a referendum vote of the residents at the next
general election held not sooner than the thirteenth Tuesday
after the date of the petition. The sufficiency of the number of
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signers to the petition shall be ascertained as of the date when
the petition is presented to court. Upon receipt of the
certified election results, the court shall enter a final decree
granting or denying the request of the petitioners. A petition
under this section may not be considered more than once in five
years.
[(b) Notice.--The court shall give notice of the filing of
the petition by advertisement in the legal newspaper of the
county, if one is published in the county, and in one newspaper
of general circulation and fix a day and time for hearing. After
the hearing, the court may decrease the number of members of
council elected in the borough from seven to five or to three,
as requested in the petition.]
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Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
20190SB0495PN0529 - 2 -
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