Bill Text: PA SB286 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amending the act of May 27, 1953 (P.L.244, No.34), entitled "An act relating to and regulating the contracts of incorporated towns and providing penalties," further providing for regulation of contracts; providing for adjustment; further providing for evasion of advertising requirements, for contracts between $750 and $10,000 and for separate bids for plumbing, heating, ventilating and electrical work.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 22-3)

Status: (Passed) 2011-11-03 - Act No. 93 [SB286 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-SB286-Amended.html

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HOUSE AMENDED
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 260, 1558, 1588 PRINTER'S NO. 1640
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 286 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY GORDNER, EICHELBERGER, KASUNIC, FOLMER, BOSCOLA, ORIE, RAFFERTY, YAW, M. WHITE, D. WHITE, ERICKSON, BAKER, ALLOWAY, BRUBAKER, GREENLEAF, SMUCKER, FERLO, ROBBINS, VANCE, EARLL, SCARNATI, McILHINNEY, PICCOLA, WARD 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 May 27, 1953 (P.L.244, No.34), entitled "An
act relating to and regulating the contracts of incorporated
towns and providing penalties," further providing for
regulation of contracts; providing for adjustment; further
providing for evasion of advertising requirements, for
contracts between $750 and $10,000 and for separate bids for
plumbing, heating, ventilating and electrical work.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 2(a) of the act of May 27, 1953 (P.L.244, <--
No.34), entitled "An act relating to and regulating the
contracts of incorporated towns and providing penalties,"
amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.392, No.93), is amended to read:
Section 1. Section 2(a) and (d)(2) of the act of May 27, <--
1953 (P.L.244, No.34), entitled "An act relating to and
regulating the contracts of incorporated towns and providing
penalties," amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.392, No.93) and December
18, 1996 (P.L.1140, No.170), are amended to read:
Section 2. Regulation of Contracts.--(a) All contracts or
purchases of incorporated towns in excess of [ten thousand
dollars] the base amount of eighteen thousand five hundred
dollars subject to adjustment under section 2.1, except those
hereinafter mentioned, shall not be made except with and from
the lowest responsible bidder, after due notice in one newspaper
of general circulation published or circulated in the county in
which the town is situated at least three times at intervals of
not less than three days where daily newspapers of general
circulation are available for such publication, and in case of
weekly newspapers 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 amount of the contract shall in all cases, whether of
straight sale price, conditional sale, bailment lease or
otherwise, be the entire amount which the town pays to the
successful bidder or his assigns in order to obtain the services
or property or both, and shall not be construed to mean only the
amount which is paid to acquire title or to receive any other
particular benefit or benefits of the whole bargain.
* * *
(d) The contracts or purchases made by council, which shall <--
not require advertising, bidding or price quotations as
hereinbefore provided, are as follows:
* * *
(2) Those made for improvements, repairs and maintenance of
any kind made or provided by any incorporated town through its
own employes: Provided, That all materials used for street
improvement, maintenance and/or construction in excess of [four]
the base amount of ten thousand dollars be subject to the
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relevant price quotation or advertising requirements contained
herein and to adjustment under section 2.1.
* * *
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 2.1. Adjustment.--Adjustments to the base amounts
specified under section 2 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
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 section.
(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, to determine the final adjusted
base amounts for purposes of section 2.
(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
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year to calculate the preliminary adjusted amounts for the
current year. The sums thereof shall be rounded to the nearest
one hundred dollars to determine the new final adjusted base
amounts for purposes of section 2.
(5) The determinations and adjustments required under this
section shall be made in the period between October 1 and
November 15 of the year following the effective date of this
section, and annually between October 1 and November 15 of 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 and written
or telephonic price quotations are required under section 2,
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 section 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 per centum.
Section 3. Section 3 of the act, amended July 10, 1990
(P.L.392, No.93), is amended to read:
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Section 3. Evasion of Advertising Requirements.--(a) No
member or members of council shall evade the provisions of
[Section two hereof] section 2 by purchasing or contracting for
services and personal properties piecemeal for the purpose of
obtaining prices under [ten thousand dollars] the base amount of
eighteen thousand five hundred dollars subject to adjustment
under section 2.1 upon transactions which transaction should, in
the exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence, be conducted
as one transaction amounting to a the base amount of more than <--
[ten thousand dollars] eighteen thousand five hundred dollars
subject to adjustment under section 2.1. This provision is
intended to make unlawful the evading of advertising
requirements by making a series of purchases or contracts each
for less than the advertising requirement of price, or by making
several simultaneous purchases or contracts each below said
price, when, in either case, the transactions involved should
have been made as one transaction for one price. Any members of
council 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 ten per centum
of the full amount of the contract or purchase.
(b) Whenever it shall appear that a member of council may
have voted in violation of this section but the purchase or
contract on which he so voted was not approved by council, this
section shall be inapplicable.
(c) Any council member who votes to unlawfully evade the
provisions of section 2 and who knows that the transaction upon
which he so votes is or ought to be a part of a larger
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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 4. Section 3.1 of the act, amended July 10, 1990
(P.L.392, No.93) and repealed in part December 18, 1996 (P.L.
1140, No.170), is amended to read:
Section 3.1. [Contracts between Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars
and Ten thousand Dollars; Written Bids.--] Written or Telephonic
Price Quotations.--
(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] in excess
of the base amount of ten thousand dollars subject to adjustment
under section 2.1 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.
Section 5. Section 5 of the act, amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.
392, No.93), is amended to read:
Section 5. Separate Bids for Plumbing, Heating, Ventilating
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and Electrical Work.--In the preparation for the erection,
construction and alteration of any public building of an
incorporated town, when the entire cost of such work shall
exceed [ten thousand dollars] a the base amount of eighteen <--
thousand five hundred dollars subject to adjustment under
section 2.1, the architect, engineer or other person preparing
such specifications shall prepare separate specifications for
the plumbing, heating, ventilating and electrical work. The
person or persons authorized to enter into contracts for the
erection, construction or alteration of such public buildings
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.
Section 6. 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 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
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