Bill Text: PA SB281 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Further providing for commissioners sole contractors for county, for contract procedures, terms and bonds and advertising for bids and for evasion of advertising requirements.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 24-3)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-10-04 - Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS [SB281 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-SB281-Amended.html

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HOUSE AMENDED
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 255, 1553, 1583 PRINTER'S NO. 1638
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 281 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY EICHELBERGER, KASUNIC, FOLMER, GORDNER, BOSCOLA, ORIE, RAFFERTY, YAW, M. WHITE, D. WHITE, ERICKSON, BAKER, ALLOWAY, BRUBAKER, GREENLEAF, SMUCKER, EARLL, SCARNATI, FERLO, ROBBINS, VANCE, WAUGH, McILHINNEY, PICCOLA, WARD, MENSCH AND BROWNE, JANUARY 26, 2011
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 4, 2011
AN ACT
Amending the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), entitled,
as amended, "An act relating to counties of the first, third,
fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth classes; amending,
revising, consolidating and changing the laws relating
thereto; relating to imposition of excise taxes by counties,
including authorizing imposition of an excise tax on the
rental of motor vehicles by counties of the first class; and
providing for regional renaissance initiatives," further
providing for commissioners sole contractors for county, for
contract procedures, terms and bonds and advertising for bids
and for evasion of advertising requirements.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 1801 and 1802(a) and (b) of the act of
August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code,
amended December 22, 2000 (P.L.1019, No.142), are amended to
read:
Section 1801. Commissioners Sole Contractors for County.--
(a) The county commissioners shall contract for and purchase
all services referred to in section five hundred eight and
personal property for county officers and agencies. All
contracts and purchases not in excess of [ten thousand dollars
($10,000)] the base amount of eighteen thousand five hundred
dollars ($18,500), subject to adjustment under subsection (b.1),
shall be by note or memorandum, in writing, signed by the county
commissioners, or their designee. A copy of all such notes and
memorandums and all written contracts shall be filed in the
office of the controller, if any, and, if not, then with the
chief clerk of the commissioners.
(b) Written or telephonic price quotations from at least
three qualified and responsible contractors shall be requested
for all contracts [that exceed four thousand dollars ($4,000)]
in excess of the base amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000),
subject to adjustment under subsection (b.1), but are less than
the amount requiring advertisement and competitive bidding or,
in lieu of price quotations, a memorandum shall be kept on file
showing that fewer than three qualified contractors exist in the
market area within which it is practicable to obtain quotations.
A written record of telephonic price quotations shall be made
and shall contain at least the date of the quotation, the name
of the contractor and the contractor's representative, the
construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or work which
was the subject of the quotation and the price. Written price
quotations, written records of telephonic price quotations and
memoranda shall be retained for a period of three years.
(b.1) Adjustments to the base amounts specified under
subsections (a) and (b) shall be made as follows:
(1) The Department of Labor and Industry shall determine the
percentage change in the All Items Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the United States City Average as
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published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics for the twelve-month period ending September
30, 2012, and for each successive twelve-month period
thereafter.
(2) If the department determines that there is no positive
percentage change, then no adjustment to the base amounts shall
occur for the relevant time period provided for in this
subsection.
(3) (i) If the department determines that there is a
positive percentage change in the first year that the
determination is made under paragraph (1), the positive
percentage change shall be multiplied by each base amount and
the products shall be added to the base amounts, respectively,
and the sums shall be preliminary adjusted amounts.
(ii) The preliminary adjusted amounts shall be rounded to
the nearest one hundred dollars ($100), to determine the final
adjusted base amounts for purposes of subsections (a) and (b).
(4) In each successive year in which there is a positive
percentage change in the CPI-U for the United States City
Average, the positive percentage change shall be multiplied by
the most recent preliminary adjusted amounts and the products
shall be added to the preliminary adjusted amount of the prior
year to calculate the preliminary adjusted amounts for the
current year. The sums thereof shall be rounded to the nearest
one hundred dollars ($100) to determine the new final adjusted
base amounts for purposes of subsections (a) and (b).
(5) The determinations and adjustments required under this
subsection shall be made in the period between October 1 and
November 15 of the year following the effective date of this
subsection, and annually between October 1 and November 15 of
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each year thereafter.
(6) The final adjusted base amounts and new final adjusted
base amounts obtained under paragraphs (3) and (4) shall become
effective January 1 for the calendar year following the year in
which the determination required under paragraph (1) is made.
(7) The department shall publish notice in the Pennsylvania
Bulletin prior to January 1 of each calendar year of the annual
percentage change determined under paragraph (1) and the
unadjusted or final adjusted base amounts determined under
paragraphs (3) and (4) at which competitive bidding is required
under subsection (a) and written or telephonic price quotations
are required under subsection (b), respectively, for the
calendar year beginning the first day of January after
publication of the notice. The notice shall include a written
and illustrative explanation of the calculations performed by
the department in establishing the unadjusted or final adjusted
base amounts under this subsection for the ensuing calendar
year.
(8) The annual increase in the preliminary adjusted base
amounts obtained under paragraphs (3) and (4) shall not exceed
three percent.
(c) The commissioners shall, where possible, anticipate the
needs of the various officers, agencies and operations of the
county and endeavor to purchase in wholesale quantities, where
practicable and where savings could be achieved thereby. The
commissioners may make contracts and purchases for all purposes
expressly or impliedly authorized by law.
Section 1802. Contract Procedures; Terms and Bonds;
Advertising for Bids.--(a) All contracts for services and
personal property where the base amount thereof exceeds the sum
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of [ten thousand dollars ($10,000)] eighteen thousand five
hundred dollars ($18,500), subject to adjustment under section
1801(b.1), shall be written and shall, except as otherwise
hereinafter specified, be made by advertising for bids.
(b) Contracts or purchases in excess of [ten thousand
dollars ($10,000)] the base amount of eighteen thousand five
hundred dollars ($18,500), subject to adjustment under section
1801(b.1), except those hereinafter mentioned and except as
provided by the act of October 27, 1979 (P.L.241, No.78),
entitled "An act authorizing political subdivisions,
municipality authorities and transportation authorities to enter
into contracts for the purchase of goods and the sale of real
and personal property where no bids are received," shall not be
made except with and from the lowest responsible and responsive
bidder submitting a bid in conformity with the specifications
approved by the board of commissioners for the contract or
purchase, after due notice in one newspaper of general
circulation, published or circulating in the county, at least
two times at intervals of not less than three days where daily
newspapers of general circulation are employed for such
publication, or in case weekly newspapers are employed then the
notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks.
The first advertisement shall be published not less than ten
days prior to the date fixed for the opening of bids. The
requirements of this subsection need not be followed in cases of
emergency, but in such cases the actual emergency shall be
declared and stated by resolution of the commissioners.
* * *
Section 2. Section 1803 Sections 1803 and 2317 of the act, <--
amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.379, No.89), is are amended to read: <--
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Section 1803. Evasion of Advertising Requirements.--(a) No
commissioner or commissioners shall evade the provisions of
section one thousand eight hundred two of this act, as to
advertising for bids or purchasing or contracting for services
and personal properties piece-meal, for the purpose of obtaining
prices under [ten thousand dollars ($10,000)] the base amount of
eighteen thousand five hundred dollars ($18,500), subject to
adjustment under section 1801(b.1), upon transactions which
should in the exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence be
conducted as one transaction amounting to more than [ten
thousand dollars ($10,000)] the base amount of eighteen thousand
five hundred dollars ($18,500), subject to adjustment under
section 1801(b.1). 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 transaction involved should have been made as one
transaction for one price. Any county commissioners 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 any loss sustained. Wherever
it shall appear that a commissioner may have voted in violation
of this section, but the purchase or contract on which he so
voted was not approved by the board of county commissioners,
this section shall be inapplicable.
(b) Any county commissioner who votes to unlawfully evade
the provisions of section one thousand eight hundred two of this
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act and who knows that the transaction upon which he so votes 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 commits a misdemeanor of the third degree
for each contract entered into as a direct result of that vote.
This penalty shall be in addition to any surcharge which may be
assessed pursuant to subsection (a).
Section 2317. Separate Bids for Plumbing, Heating, <--
Ventilating, 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 thousand dollars ($10,000)] the base
amount of eighteen thousand five hundred dollars ($18,500)
subject to adjustment under section 1801(b.1) 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 board of
commissioners 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.
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Section 3. 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 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
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