THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY GIBBONS, CREIGHTON, HORNAMAN, HUTCHINSON, KULA, MILLARD AND MURT, OCTOBER 13, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, OCTOBER 13, 2011  

AN ACT

Providing for grants to municipalities that provide services to

certain universities and for powers and duties of the

Department of Community and Economic Development; and making

an appropriation.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Municipal

Service Grant Act.

Section 2.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Department."  The Department of Community and Economic

Development.

"Host municipality."  A municipality where the majority of

tax-exempt properties owned by a university are located.

"Impacted municipality."  A municipality that provides the

majority of primary municipal services, such as police, fire

protection and code enforcement to the off-campus student

population of a university.

"Real estate tax millage rate."  The millage rate designated

by a municipality for use on a university's tax-exempt property.

"University."  A university within the State System of Higher

Education.

"University's tax-exempt property."  The term includes any

tax-exempt property used by a university that is owned by the

State System of Higher Education, the Commonwealth, a university

or a foundation formed by the university.

Section 3.  Municipal Service Grants.

Beginning with the 2011-2012 fiscal year and for each fiscal

year thereafter, the department shall make payments in the form

of grants for the purpose of reimbursing those municipalities

that provide primary municipal services to universities.

Section 4.  Reimbursable expenses.

Grants shall be awarded in accordance with section 5 and

shall be used to reimburse municipalities for all of the

following:

(1)  The cost of providing primary municipal services to

a university.

(2)  The loss of tax revenue incurred by the presence of

tax-exempt properties owned by a university.

Section 5.  Distribution formula.

Grants awarded under this act shall be distributed to each

municipality according to the following formula, and the data

utilized in the formula for each municipality shall be reviewed

every three years by the department:

(1)  Divide the university's full-time equivalent student

enrollment for the previous academic year by the total full-

time equivalent student enrollment for the previous academic

year of the State System of Higher Education, expressed as a

percentage.

(2)  Multiply the municipality's real estate tax millage

rate by the assessed value of the university's tax-exempt

property to determine the tax revenue actually lost. Then

divide the result expressing the tax revenue lost by the sum

of the total tax revenue lost by all the municipalities

providing primary municipal services to universities,

expressed as a percentage.

(3)  To equally weight the two ratios, combine the

percentage under paragraph (1) with the percentage under

paragraph (2) and divide by two, expressed as a percentage.

(4)  Multiply the result of paragraph (3) by the total

amount of funding appropriated for the purposes of this act.

Section 6.  Main campus in multiple municipalities.

If a university's main campus is located in or immediately

adjacent to more than one municipality, the grant for primary

municipal services shall be allocated and distributed to each

affected municipality proportionately as follows:

(1)  Proportionality shall be determined for the impacted

municipality by the percentage determined under section 5(1)

and for the host municipality by the percentage determined

under section 5(2).

(2)  Each factor separately shall then be divided by two.

(3)  Separately, each result shall be multiplied by the

total amount of funding appropriated for the purposes of this

act.

The department shall designate only one municipality as the host

municipality and only one municipality as the impacted

municipality for each regional State System of Higher Education

university.

Section 7.  Appropriation.

The amount of $3,000,000 is hereby appropriated to the

Department of Community and Economic Development for the fiscal

year 2011-2012 to carry out the provisions of this act.

Section 8.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect immediately.