PRINTER'S NO. 700
No. 657 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY SALVATORE AND RHOADES, MARCH 7, 1989
REFERRED TO URBAN AFFAIRS AND HOUSING, MARCH 7, 1989
AN ACT
1 Providing for the erection of new counties from existing
2 counties or cities.
3 TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 Section 1. Short title.
5 Section 2. Creation of new county.
6 Section 3. Petition for division.
7 Section 4. Required information.
8 Section 5. Optional information.
9 Section 6. Certification by Attorney General.
10 Section 7. Duties of Secretary of the Commonwealth.
11 Section 8. Notice of vote on question.
12 Section 9. Conduct of election.
13 Section 10. Proclamation by Governor.
14 Section 11. Interim officers.
15 Section 12. Election of officers.
16 Section 13. Court system of new county.
17 Section 14. Liens not affected.
1 Section 15. Assets and liabilities.
2 Section 16. Designation of county not affected.
3 Section 17. Repeals.
4 Section 18. Effective date.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Short title.
8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the County
9 Division Act.
10 Section 2. Creation of new county.
11 Any county or city of this Commonwealth having a population
12 in excess of 1,500,000 persons, according to the most recent
13 Federal Decennial Census, may be divided and a new county may be
14 erected therefrom upon the approval of a petition for division
15 by a majority of the electors voting on such question within the
16 boundaries of the proposed new county.
17 Section 3. Petition for division.
18 Any person or persons desiring erection of a new county shall
19 file a petition for division in the office of the Secretary of
20 Community Affairs, containing the information required by this
21 act, including, but not limited to, the name of the proposed new
22 county, its area in square miles, the population according to
23 the immediately preceding Federal Decennial Census, a
24 description of its proposed boundary lines, and the name of the
25 county or city which is being divided and its remaining
26 population. The petition shall be signed by qualified electors
27 residing within the boundaries of the proposed new county
28 equaling not less than 1% of the largest entire vote cast within
29 the boundaries of the proposed new county for any candidate in
30 the State at large at the last election in which Statewide
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1 candidates were voted for. The petition shall be verified under
2 oath by not less than 25 qualified electors.
3 Section 4. Required information.
4 In addition to the information required by section 3, the
5 petition shall contain:
6 (1) A designation of the class of county for which the
7 proposed new county will qualify under section 210 of the act
8 of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County
9 Code.
10 (2) A proposed timetable for implementing the new county
11 governmental structure.
12 (3) A description of the necessary transition provisions
13 needed for the continued use of facilities and services of
14 the old undivided county or city, including, but not limited
15 to, the use of government buildings, police and fire
16 protection and other municipal services, including water,
17 sewer and sanitation currently provided by the old undivided
18 county or city.
19 Section 5. Optional information.
20 (a) Designation of coterminous city.--In addition to the
21 information required by sections 3 and 4, the petition may
22 include the designation, if applicable, of the proposed new
23 county to also become a coterminous city, borough, incorporated
24 town or township, as the area would qualify for under law. The
25 approval of the designation shall be nonseverable from the
26 question of the creation of the new county and shall be
27 incorporated into the question as it appears on the ballot.
28 (b) School district.--In addition to the information
29 required by sections 3 and 4, the petition may include a
30 proposal, if applicable, to divide the old school district in
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1 such a way that a new one is formed coterminous with the
2 proposed new county. The approval of the division shall be
3 nonseverable from the question of the creation of the new county
4 and shall be incorporated into the question as it appears on the
5 ballot. The plan shall include a timetable of implementing a new
6 school structure, including any necessary transition periods
7 wherein certain facilities or personnel of the existing district
8 are shared until the new district is fully operational.
9 (c) Areas within new county.--Nothing contained in this
10 section shall preclude any area within the new county and other
11 coterminous municipality from organizing into a separate city,
12 borough, incorporated town or township, as provided by law.
13 (d) Assets and liabilities of school districts.--All
14 property theretofore vested in the former school district, all
15 debts and taxes owing to the former school district but
16 uncollected in the former school district, and all moneys in the
17 treasury of the former school district shall be transferred to
18 the appropriate treasurers of the newly constituted school
19 districts on the same basis as provided in section 15(a). All
20 real and personal property, indebtedness and rental obligations
21 to an approved building authority or nonprofit corporation, if
22 any, of the former school district shall become the property,
23 indebtedness and rental obligations of the appropriate newly
24 constituted school district.
25 Section 6. Certification by Attorney General.
26 Immediately upon receipt of the petition for division, the
27 Secretary of Community Affairs shall notify and transmit to the
28 Governor, the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Attorney
29 General the proposal for the erection of a new county. Within 30
30 days of receiving notification, the Attorney General shall
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1 determine whether the petition for division meets all
2 constitutional and statutory requirements and shall certify it
3 to the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
4 Section 7. Duties of Secretary of the Commonwealth.
5 (a) Certification to board of elections.--If the Attorney
6 General has approved the legality and constitutionality of the
7 petition, the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall certify to the
8 board of elections of the county or city proposed to be divided
9 that the question of the approval or disapproval of the erection
10 of a new county, which question shall be framed by the Secretary
11 of the Commonwealth, shall be placed on the ballot at the next
12 primary, municipal or general election occurring not less than
13 90 days from receipt of the certification.
14 (b) Return of petition.--In the event that the petition does
15 not meet constitutional or statutory criteria, the Secretary of
16 the Commonwealth shall return it to the petitioners with
17 information concerning the Attorney General's reasons for
18 rejecting it.
19 Section 8. Notice of vote on question.
20 The governing body of the county or city sought to be divided
21 shall give notice of the impending vote on this question by
22 publication of the substantive elements of the petition at least
23 once a week for four successive weeks, immediately prior to the
24 election at which the question will be presented to the voters,
25 in at least two newspapers of general circulation, published and
26 circulated generally in the county or city, in accordance with
27 Title 45 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (relating to
28 legal notices).
29 Section 9. Conduct of election.
30 The question of the erection of a new county shall be placed
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1 on the ballot only within the boundaries of the proposed new
2 county, and the election shall be conducted in accordance with
3 all the provisions of the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333,
4 No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code. Any election
5 contest that may arise from the conduct of this election shall
6 be a Class III election contest pursuant to the provisions of
7 the Pennsylvania Election Code.
8 Section 10. Proclamation by Governor.
9 (a) Establishment of new county.--Upon certification of the
10 election results to the Secretary of the Commonwealth under the
11 act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the
12 Pennsylvania Election Code, if a majority of votes cast shall be
13 in favor of the erection of the new county, the Secretary of the
14 Commonwealth shall so inform the Governor, who shall issue a
15 proclamation declaring that the new county is established as of
16 January 1 of the year next following the election. The new
17 county and its officers and employees shall be vested with all
18 the rights, powers, privileges and duties of all other counties
19 of the same class.
20 (b) Establishment of another political subdivision.--In the
21 event that the creation of another political subdivision or
22 subdivisions were part of the petition and question presented to
23 the voters, the Governor shall include in his proclamation a
24 declaration of the establishment thereof, to take effect on
25 January 1 of the year next succeeding for a newly created
26 municipality, and July 1 of the year next succeeding for a newly
27 divided school district. Any new political subdivision and its
28 officers and employees shall be vested with all the rights,
29 powers, privileges and duties of all like political
30 subdivisions.
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1 Section 11. Interim officers.
2 (a) Elective office.--The Governor shall immediately
3 appoint, with the advice and consent of the majority of the
4 members of the Senate elected, living, sworn and seated, all
5 elective officers of the new county and any other political
6 subdivisions created under this proclamation. The officers shall
7 hold their offices until the first Monday of January next
8 following the first municipal election occurring subsequent to
9 their taking office.
10 (b) Appointive officers.--Appointive county and political
11 subdivision offices shall be filled as provided by law.
12 Section 12. Election of officers.
13 At the next municipal election held after the erection of the
14 new county, the qualified electors shall elect the several
15 county, municipal and school district officers, as applicable,
16 for terms as provided by law.
17 Section 13. Court system of new county.
18 Upon the issuance of the proclamation establishing the new
19 county, the Governor shall inform the Chief Justice of the
20 Supreme Court, who shall temporarily assign judges of the courts
21 of common pleas of the old county or city to act in that
22 capacity for the new county. The Chief Justice shall also take
23 all other action necessary for establishing the court system for
24 the new county. The General Assembly shall establish a new
25 judicial district for the new county during the same or next
26 succeeding session.
27 Section 14. Liens not affected.
28 The lien of all mortgages, judgments, mechanic's liens and
29 verdicts and all records which shall have been made and entered
30 in the old county or city shall not be affected by the
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1 establishment of the new county.
2 Section 15. Assets and liabilities.
3 (a) Indebtedness.--The new county shall remain liable for
4 its proportionate share of any indebtedness or rental
5 obligations incurred while its territory was still part of the
6 old county or city in the proportion that its taxable real
7 property after division bears to the total of all real property
8 of the old county or city before division for the fiscal year
9 immediately preceding the year the new county is established by
10 gubernatorial proclamation.
11 (b) Property.--All real and personal property formerly
12 vested in the old county or city and all debts and taxes owing
13 to the old county or city remaining uncollected, and all moneys
14 in the treasury of the former county or city on the date of the
15 erection of the new county, shall be divided in the same
16 proportion as provided in subsection (a). The governing bodies
17 of the two governments shall, within a year after the
18 establishment of a new county, enter into all agreements and
19 make any and all adjustments necessary in the division of the
20 assets and liabilities of the old county or city.
21 (c) Disputes over division.--In the event that the governing
22 bodies are unable to reach agreements on any or all points
23 involved in the apportionment of assets and liabilities, the
24 disputes shall be settled by a three-judge panel of appellate
25 court judges or justices, appointed by the Chief Justice of the
26 Supreme Court.
27 Section 16. Designation of county not affected.
28 The class designation under law of a county or city having
29 been divided under the procedures contained in this act shall
30 not be affected by the loss of population due to the erection of
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1 a new county from a portion of its former geographic area.
2 Section 17. Repeals.
3 All acts and parts of acts are repealed insofar as they are
4 inconsistent with this act.
5 Section 18. Effective date.
6 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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