PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2504 PRINTER'S NO 3248
No. 1862 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY HARPER, HERMAN, LESCOVITZ, BIANCUCCI, HANNA, ROSS,
HARHAI, HICKERNELL, O'NEILL, KAUFFMAN, HENNESSEY, M. KELLER,
PETRI, T. STEVENSON, McNAUGHTON, GINGRICH, ARMSTRONG,
BALDWIN, BOYD, CAPPELLI, DALLY, DENLINGER, DeWEESE, FRANKEL,
GEIST, HARRIS, HERSHEY, McILHATTAN, PHILLIPS, PICKETT,
SCAVELLO AND WATSON, JULY 3, 2005
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, DECEMBER 6, 2005
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of August 6, 1936 (Sp.Sess., P.L.95, No.38
2 1/2), entitled "An act to authorize and empower cities,
3 boroughs, towns, and townships, separately or jointly, to
4 provide for protection against floods by erecting and
5 constructing certain works and improvements, located within
6 or without their territorial limits, and within or without
7 the county in which situate; and to expend moneys and incur
8 indebtedness; to assess benefits against property benefited;
9 to issue improvement bonds imposing no municipal liability;
10 and to acquire, take, injure or destroy property for such
11 purposes," further providing for competitive bidding of
12 contracts.
13 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14 hereby enacts as follows:
15 Section 1. Section 3 of the act of August 6, 1936 (Sp.Sess.,
16 P.L.95, No.38 1/2), entitled "An act to authorize and empower
17 cities, boroughs, towns, and townships, separately or jointly,
18 to provide for protection against floods by erecting and
19 constructing certain works and improvements, located within or
20 without their territorial limits, and within or without the
1 county in which situate; and to expend moneys and incur
2 indebtedness; to assess benefits against property benefited; to
3 issue improvement bonds imposing no municipal liability; and to
4 acquire, take, injure or destroy property for such purposes,"
5 amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.402, No.97), is amended to read:
6 Section 3. (a) No such works or improvements, involving an
7 expenditure by any municipality or municipalities of more than
8 [ten thousand dollars ($10,000)] twenty-five thousand dollars <--
9 ($25,000) EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS ($18,000), subject to <--
10 adjustment under subsection (b.1), shall be erected, constructed
11 or provided, except by contract let to the lowest responsible
12 bidder after due advertisement, once a week for two successive
13 weeks in at least one newspaper of general circulation:
14 Provided, however, That no contract shall be required to be let
15 for the performance of the work on any such work or improvement
16 where the cost of the labor shall be paid by the Federal
17 Government, or any agency thereof, without cost to the
18 municipality or municipalities.
19 (b) Written or telephonic price quotations from at least
20 three qualified and responsible contractors shall be requested
21 for all contracts that exceed [four thousand dollars ($4,000)]
22 ten thousand dollars ($10,000) SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS ($7,000), <--
23 subject to adjustment under subsection (b.1), but are less than
24 the amount requiring advertisement and competitive bidding or,
25 in lieu of price quotations, a memorandum shall be kept on file
26 showing that fewer than three qualified contractors exist in the
27 market area within which it is practicable to obtain quotations.
28 A written record of telephonic price quotations shall be made
29 and shall contain at least the date of the quotation, the name
30 of the contractor and the contractor's representative, the
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1 construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or work which
2 was the subject of the quotation and the price. Written price
3 quotations, written records of telephonic price quotations and
4 memoranda shall be retained for a period of three years.
5 (b.1) Adjustments shall be made as follows:
6 (1) The Department of Labor and Industry shall determine the <--
7 percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
8 Consumers for the twelve-month period ending September 30 of the
9 calendar year in which this subsection becomes effective, and
10 for each successive twelve-month period thereafter.
11 (1) ANNUALLY, BEGINNING WITH THE YEAR IN WHICH THIS <--
12 SUBSECTION BECOMES APPLICABLE TO CONTRACTS AND PURCHASES, THE
13 DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRY SHALL CALCULATE THE PERCENTAGE
14 CHANGE IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ALL URBAN CONSUMERS (CPI-
15 U) FOR THE UNITED STATES CITY AVERAGE FOR ALL ITEMS AS PUBLISHED
16 BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, BUREAU OF LABOR
17 STATISTICS, FOR THE TWELVE-MONTH AVERAGE ENDING IN SEPTEMBER OF
18 THE PRIOR YEAR.
19 (2) The amount at which competitive bidding is required
20 under subsection (a) and the amount at which written or
21 telephonic price quotations are required under subsection (b)
22 shall be adjusted annually as follows:
23 (i) In the case of competitive bidding, the positive
24 percentage change, as determined in accordance with paragraph
25 (1), shall be multiplied by the amount applicable under
26 subsection (a) for the current year and the product thereof
27 shall be added to the amount applicable under subsection (a) for
28 the current year, with the result rounded to the nearest
29 multiple of ten dollars ($10).
30 (ii) In the case of written or telephonic price quotations,
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1 the positive percentage change, as determined in accordance with
2 paragraph (1), shall be multiplied by the amount applicable
3 under subsection (b) for the current year and the product
4 thereof shall be added to the amount applicable under subsection
5 (b) for the current year, with the result rounded to the nearest
6 multiple of ten dollars ($10).
7 (3) The annual determination required under paragraph (1)
8 and the calculation of the adjustments required under paragraph
9 (2) shall be made in the period between October 1 and November
10 15 of the year following the effective date of this subsection,
11 and annually between October 1 and November 15 of each
12 successive year.
13 (4) The adjusted amounts obtained in accordance with
14 paragraph (2) shall become effective January 1 for the calendar
15 year following the year in which the determination required
16 under paragraph (1) is made.
17 (5) The department shall give notice in the Pennsylvania
18 Bulletin prior to January 1 of each calendar year of the annual
19 percentage change determined in accordance with paragraph (1)
20 and the amounts, whether adjusted or unadjusted in accordance
21 with paragraph (2), at which competitive bidding is required
22 under subsection (a) and written or telephonic price quotations
23 are required under subsection (b) for the calendar year
24 beginning the first day of January after publication of the
25 notice.
26 (c) No municipality shall evade the provisions of this
27 section as to advertising for bids or purchasing materials or
28 contracting for services piecemeal for the purpose of obtaining
29 prices under [ten thousand dollars ($10,000)] the amount
30 required by this section upon transactions which should, in the
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1 exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence, be conducted as
2 one transaction amounting to more than [ten thousand dollars
3 ($10,000)] the amount required by this section. This provision
4 is intended to make unlawful the practice of evading advertising
5 requirements by making a series of purchases or contracts each
6 for less than the advertising requirement price or by making
7 several simultaneous purchases or contracts each below said
8 price, when in either case the transaction involved should have
9 been made as one transaction for one price.
10 (d) Any member of a governing body of a municipality who
11 votes to unlawfully evade the provisions of this section and who
12 knows that the transaction upon which he so votes is or ought to
13 be a part of a larger transaction and that it is being divided
14 in order to evade the requirements as to advertising for bids
15 commits a misdemeanor of the third degree for each contract
16 entered into as a direct result of that vote.
17 (e) Every contract for the construction, reconstruction,
18 alteration, repair, improvement or maintenance of public works
19 shall comply with the provisions of the act of March 3, 1978
20 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the "Steel Products Procurement Act."
21 Section 2. The amendment of section 3 of the act shall apply
22 to contracts and purchases advertised after December 31 of the
23 year in which this section takes effect.
24 Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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