Section 6924.505 - Tax collection committees(a)General rule.--Subject to the provisions of subsection (m), each tax collection district shall be governed by a tax collection committee constituted and operated as set forth in this section. Meetings of the tax collection committee shall be conducted under 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open meetings) and the act of June 21, 1957 (P.L. 390, No. 212), referred to as the Right-to-Know Law.(a.1)Duties.--A tax collection committee has the following duties: (1) To keep records of all votes and other actions taken by the tax collection committee.(2) To appoint and oversee a tax officer for the tax collection district as provided in section 507(a).(3) To set the compensation of the tax officer under section 507(c).(4) To require, hold, set and review the tax officer's bond required by section 509(d).(5) To establish the manner and extent of financing of the tax collection committee.(6) To adopt, amend and repeal bylaws for the management of its affairs consistent with subsection (f) and regulations under section 508.(7) To adopt, amend and repeal policies and procedures consistent with the regulations under section 508 for the administration of income taxes within the tax collection district. The procedures shall supersede any contrary resolutions or ordinances adopted by a political subdivision and no additional forms, policies or procedures may be adopted other than those promulgated by the department unless permitted by the department under subsection (a.3). This authority shall not be construed to permit a tax collection committee to change the rate or subject of any tax.(a.2)Powers.--A tax collection committee has the following powers: (1) To adopt, amend and repeal resolutions to carry out its powers and duties under this section.(2) To create a tax bureau and to provide for its operation and administration. The department shall, upon request of a tax collection committee, provide technical assistance to the tax collection committee in the creation of a tax bureau.(3) To enter into contracts as necessary.(4) To appoint a director for the tax collection committee and other employees as necessary and to fix their compensation.(5) To retain counsel, auditors and other consultants or advisors to render professional services as necessary.(6) To acquire, lease, rent or dispose of real or personal property.(7) To enter into agreements with one or more other tax collection committees to form a joint tax collection committee. Such agreements may assign to a joint tax collection committee some or all of the powers and duties enumerated in subsection (a.1) and this subsection with respect to all tax collection districts from which the joint tax collection committee is formed.(8) To sue and be sued, and complain and defend in all courts.(9) To borrow money, accept grants, incur indebtedness and issue notes, debentures and other obligations to evidence borrowing for the purposes for which it is organized in an amount not to exceed 50% of the total revenues anticipated in the following fiscal year.(a.3)Form.--Beginning January 1, 2020, in administering this act, no political subdivision, tax collection committee or tax officer may use any form other than that which is promulgated by the department unless, for religious reasons, the department expressly grants an exception to this requirement.(b)Delegates.--(1) The governing body of each political subdivision within a tax collection district that imposed an income tax prior to July 1, 2009, shall appoint one voting delegate and one or more alternates to represent the political subdivision on the tax collection committee by September 15, 2009. The governing body of each political subdivision that after June 30, 2009, imposes an income tax for the first time shall appoint one voting delegate and one or more alternates to represent the political subdivision on the tax collection committee. A voting delegate or alternate shall serve at the pleasure of the governing body of the political subdivision.(2) The governing body of each political subdivision within a tax collection district that prior to July 1, 2009, does not impose an income tax may appoint one nonvoting delegate and one or more alternates to represent the political subdivision on the tax collection committee. If, after June 30, 2009, the political subdivision imposes an income tax, the nonvoting delegate shall become a voting delegate to represent the political subdivision on the tax collection committee.(b.1)Quorum.--Unless otherwise provided for in the bylaws of a tax collection committee, a majority of the delegates of a tax collection committee appointed under subsection (b)(1) constitutes a quorum. A quorum must be present in order to take official action.(b.2)Lack of quorum at first meeting.--If a quorum is not present at the first meeting, the chair of the governing body of the county in which the tax collection district is located or the chair's designee shall reschedule the meeting within three weeks. The chair or the chair's designee shall provide, by first class mail, notice of the rescheduled meeting to the department and to the governing bodies of all political subdivisions in the tax collection district on a form prescribed by the department. The form shall include the date, time and location of the rescheduled meeting and a notice that the delegates present at the rescheduled meeting shall constitute a quorum. The rescheduled meeting shall be deemed to be the first meeting for purposes of this chapter.(c)Voting rights.--(1) Only a delegate appointed by the governing body of a political subdivision may represent a political subdivision at a tax collection committee meeting. If a delegate cannot be present for a tax collection committee meeting, the alternate appointed under this section may represent the political subdivision. Each delegate or alternate shall be entitled to vote upon any action authorized or required of the tax collection committee under this chapter.(2) For the first meeting of the tax collection committee, actions of the tax collection committee shall be determined by a majority vote of those delegates present. Votes shall be weighted among the governing bodies of the member political subdivisions according to the following formula: 50% shall be allocated according to the proportional population of each political subdivision in proportion to the population of each tax collection district as determined by the most recent Federal decennial census data and 50% shall be weighted in direct proportion to income tax revenues collected in each political subdivision, based on each political subdivision's most recent annual financial report submitted to the department or the Department of Education. For subsequent meetings, votes shall be taken in accordance with this paragraph unless the bylaws provide otherwise.(3) No later than September 1, 2009, the department shall calculate the weighted vote for each political subdivision within each tax collection district based on the formula specified in paragraph (2). By July 1 of the year following the first meeting, and of each year thereafter, each tax collection committee shall recalculate the weighted vote unless the bylaws provide for a more frequent recalculation.(4) If a political subdivision within the tax collection district imposes an income tax for the first time, the tax collection committee shall recalculate the weighted vote or other method of voting under the bylaws.(d)First meeting schedule.-- The first meeting of the tax collection committee in each tax collection district shall be on or before November 15, 2009. The chair of the county commissioners or the chief executive of the county in which the tax collection district is primarily located or the chair's designee shall schedule the first meeting of the tax collection committee and shall provide, at least 21 days before the meeting, public notice, as required by 65 Pa.C.S. § 703 (relating to definitions), and notice by first class mail by September 15, 2009, to the department and to the governing body of each political subdivision located in the tax collection district.(e)First meeting agenda.--The chair of the county commissioners or the chair's designee or the chief executive of the county or his designee shall convene the first meeting of the tax collection committee, conduct the meeting and record all votes until a chairperson, vice chairperson and secretary are elected by the tax collection committee. The voting delegates of the tax collection committee shall elect a chairperson and a vice chairperson, each of whom must be duly appointed voting delegates, and a secretary who need not be a duly appointed voting delegate. The chairperson shall schedule meetings, set the agenda, conduct meetings, record votes and perform other duties as determined by the tax collection committee. The secretary shall maintain the minutes and records of the tax collection committee and provide public notices and all notices to each delegate and alternate appointed to the tax collection committee.(f)Bylaws.--No later than April 15, 2010, the delegates of each tax collection committee shall adopt bylaws to govern the tax collection committee and notify the department within 30 days of adoption. The department shall provide sample bylaws to the tax collection committee. Written notice shall be provided to each delegate and alternate delegate that the adoption or amendment of bylaws will be considered at a meeting. Notice shall include copies of the proposed bylaws or amendments. The bylaws for each tax collection committee shall provide for the following: (1) Rules of procedure, quorum requirements, voting rights and provisions for managing the affairs of the tax collection committee.(2) A list of officers, their terms and powers and a process for their election.(3) Meetings, including special meetings.(4) The process for adopting and amending bylaws.(5) The procedure for the addition of new political subdivisions to the tax collection committee.(g)Officers.--Upon the election of any new officers, the tax collection committee shall notify the department within 30 days and shall provide the department with the name and address of each officer.(h)Audits of taxes received and disbursed.--(1) By the end of each calendar year, the tax collection committee shall provide for at least one examination for each calendar year of the books, accounts, financial statements, compliance reports and records of the tax officer by a certified public accountant or public accountant approved by the tax collection committee. The examination shall be conducted on a calendar-year basis. An examination conducted on any other basis shall not be accepted by the department, and failure to comply with this requirement shall be considered noncompliance with this act resulting in the imposition of penalties under section 510. The examination shall include an audit of all records relating to the cash basis receipt and disbursement of all public money by the tax officer, a reconciliation of the monthly reports required by section 509(b), an analysis of the bond amount under section 509(d) and an analysis of the collection fees charged to the tax collection committee. In the case of a private agency, the examination shall not include payroll and other proprietary information. The examination shall be conducted according to generally accepted governmental auditing standards.(2) The certified public accountant or public accountant shall issue a report, on a calendar-year basis and in a format prescribed by the department, to the tax collection committee, which shall include an auditor's opinion letter, a financial statement for the year ending December 31, a reconciliation of the monthly reports required by section 509(b) with the receipts and disbursements on a calendar-year basis, a summary of collection fees charged to the tax collection committee on a calendar-year basis, a report on the tax officer's compliance with this act, a list of any findings of noncompliance with this act and a copy of a management letter if one is issued by the auditor. If there are findings of noncompliance, a copy of the report shall be filed with the Department of the Auditor General and the department. A copy of the report shall be filed with all political subdivisions within the tax collection district and the department on or before September 1 of the succeeding year. The department may make available on its Internet website summary data from the reports filed under this subsection. The department may reject any report which is not in the proper format and does not meet the requirements of this paragraph. Failure to correct the submission within 30 days of the rejection shall constitute noncompliance with this act and result in the imposition of penalties under section 510.(i)Applicability of statutes.--Each tax collection committee shall be subject to the provisions of the following:(1) The Right-to-Know Law.(2) The act of July 19, 1957 (P.L. 1017, No. 451), known as the State Adverse Interest Act.(3) 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open meetings).(4) 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 11 (relating to ethics standards and financial disclosure).(j)Appeals board.--(1) By June 1, 2010, each tax collection committee shall establish an appeals board comprised of a minimum of three delegates or, in the case of a tax collection committee established pursuant to subsection (m), a minimum of three residents of the county.(2) A determination of the tax officer relating to the assessment, collection, refund, withholding, remittance or distribution of income taxes may be appealed to the appeals board by a taxpayer, employer, political subdivision or another tax collection district.(3) All appeals, other than those brought under subsection (k), shall be conducted in a manner consistent with 53 Pa.C.S. §§ 8431 (relating to petitions), 8432 (relating to practice and procedure), 8433 (relating to decisions), 8434 (relating to appeals) and 8435 (relating to equitable and legal principles to apply).(4) A tax collection committee may enter into an agreement with another tax collection committee to establish a joint appeals board.(5) No member of an appeals board or joint appeals board may be a tax officer or an employee, agent or attorney for a tax officer.(6) An appeals board appointed pursuant to this section shall constitute a joint local tax appeals board as provided for in 53 Pa.C.S. § 8430 (relating to administrative appeals) for purposes of taxes collected under the supervision of the appointing tax collection committee.(k)Mediation and appeals of tax collector actions.--(1) Any dispute among the affected parties involving a 10% or greater deviation from taxes received in the previous tax year shall be subject to mandatory mediation under this section, in accordance with regulations and guidelines to be adopted by the department. A dispute involving less than the 10% threshold may be the subject of voluntary mediation in accordance with regulations and guidelines to be adopted by the department.(2) One or more affected political subdivisions shall give written notice to the tax collection committee and the department of its desire to submit the disputed matter to mediation by the department. Thereafter, the affected political subdivisions, tax collection committee and tax officer shall submit to mediation to which the following provisions shall apply: (i) Within 20 days of submission of the written notice, the affected political subdivisions, tax collection committee and tax officer shall each submit to the mediator and each other party to the mediation a statement of no more than five pages, stating the position of such party as to the disputed and undisputed facts and issues in the case and whether prior settlement negotiations have occurred.(ii) Within 30 days of submission of the written notice, the department shall determine whether the dispute meets the threshold conditions for mandatory mediation under paragraph (1), which decision shall be final and not appealable. Notice of such determination shall be given in writing to all affected parties.(iii) If the mediator determines that the dispute meets the threshold conditions of paragraph (1), a mediation shall be commenced in accordance with procedures established under guidelines adopted by the department. The mediation efforts shall be completed no later than 30 days following the notice that the dispute has met the threshold requirement of paragraph (1), unless the time period is extended by mutual agreement of the parties to the mediation. The parties shall have any official authorized to settle the matter on their behalf available at the mediation. At the discretion of the mediator, the mediation may be held via telephonic communication or in person.(iv) The mediation sessions shall be closed to the public and shall not be subject to the requirements of 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7.(v) No offers or statements made in a mediation session, excluding the final written settlement agreement, if any, shall be admissible as evidence in any subsequent judicial or administrative proceedings in accordance with the provisions of 42 Pa.C.S. § 5949 (relating to confidential mediation communications and documents).(vi) If a settlement is reached during the mediation, the department shall prepare a written settlement agreement and obtain all necessary signatures of the parties within 30 days of the agreement of the parties to settle the issue. The settlement agreement shall be binding upon the parties to the agreement. Such settlement agreement shall be subject to the provisions of the Right-to-Know Law. Such agreements shall be admissible as evidence in any subsequent judicial or administrative proceedings in accordance with the provisions of the Pennsylvania Rules of Court, the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence and 42 Pa.C.S. § 5949.(vii) If the mediation has not resulted in a written agreement signed by the parties as provided in subparagraph (vi), the mediation shall be deemed to have been unsuccessful unless all parties and the department agree in writing to extend the mediation. The mediator shall have the right to determine that the mediation has been unsuccessful and to terminate the mediation if the parties have not executed a settlement agreement by the ending date of the extension, or any further extension agreeable to the affected parties and the mediator.(viii) Costs incurred by the department for a mandatory mediation under this section shall be equitably assessed by the department against the parties to the mediation. The assessment of costs shall be final and not appealable.(3) The department shall adopt guidelines to further provide for the mandatory and voluntary mediation processes in this subsection.(l)Annual budget required.--(1) Each tax collection committee shall adopt an annual budget providing for compensation of the tax officer and other expenses of operating the tax collection district.(2) The expenses of operating the tax collection district shall be shared among and paid by all political subdivisions within the tax collection district that are represented by voting delegates on the tax collection committee and shall be weighted in direct proportion to income tax revenues collected in each participating political subdivision based on the political subdivision's most recent annual audit report required under this section.(m)Committee establishment in counties with existing consolidated collection arrangements.--In any county in which, on the effective date of this section, all political subdivisions levying an income tax, including a county school district located partially outside of but contiguous to the county, are served by one existing tax bureau and that tax bureau is governed by a single governing entity created solely by the action of the school districts located wholly within and one or more partially outside of but contiguous to that county, such existing governing entity shall constitute the tax collection committee for that county and school district, provided, a majority of the governing bodies of the political subdivisions served by such tax bureau and within the tax collection district as defined in section 504(c) adopt uniform resolutions on or before July 1, 2009, designating said governing entity as the county tax collection committee for purposes of this act. In the event such a majority is not achieved, the establishment of a tax collection committee for that county and such school district shall proceed as otherwise provided for in this section. The following apply:(1) A tax collection committee established pursuant to this subsection shall not be subject to any of the following:(vii) Subsection (f), except that the substance of bylaws utilized by such a tax collection committee shall address the subjects enumerated therein.(viii) Subsection (l)(2).(2) All of the following requirements shall be deemed to have been met without the necessity of further action by a tax collection committee established pursuant to this subsection: (i) The initial adoption of bylaws otherwise required of a tax collection committee under subsection (a.1)(6).(ii) The initial adoption of policies and procedures otherwise required of a tax collection committee under subsection (a.1)(7).(3) In addition to the withdrawal options for political subdivisions under section 510(h), each political subdivision governed by a tax collection committee established pursuant to this subsection may, within the 90-day period ending November 15, 2013, and November 15 every fourth year thereafter, adopt and file with the department and the tax collection committee a resolution evidencing its desire to withdraw from governance by such tax collection committee as of January 1 of the second succeeding calendar year. The following apply: (i) If a majority of the governing bodies of such political subdivisions adopt resolutions evidencing a desire to withdraw, a new tax collection committee shall be established in accordance with subparagraph (iii).(ii) If a majority of the governing bodies of such political subdivisions fail to adopt resolutions evidencing a desire to withdraw from governance by the tax collection committee established pursuant to this subsection, such governance shall continue as before for all political subdivisions.(iii) The department shall promulgate appropriate regulations governing the establishment of a new county tax collection committee necessitated by the action of political subdivisions under this paragraph in withdrawing from a tax collection committee established pursuant to this subsection. Among other things, such regulations shall provide for voting rights, quorum requirements, meeting requirements, meeting agendas, bylaw requirements and other items as provided for in this section and other parts of this act dealing with the initial establishment of tax collection committees, to the extent warranted, and shall establish the time frame and schedule within which any and all actions necessary to establish such a new tax collection committee are to be effectuated to ensure a timely and efficient transfer of tax collection and governance responsibilities.1965, Dec. 31, P.L. 1257, § 505, added 2008, July 2, P.L. 197, No. 32, § 23, imd. effective. Amended 2018, May 4, P.L. 102, No. 18, § 6, effective in 60 days [July 3, 2018].