Municipal Law

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For Pennsylvania municipalities facing a rising tide of costs from implementing storm water management plans, the available funding options vary depending on where you are and what you are – but that could change as soon as later this year. The General Assembly has passed several laws that authorize certain municipalities and municipal authorities to impose “reasonable and uniform” fees to fund storm water management plans – and several additional bills are pending that, if passed, would extend these funding mechanisms to municipal entities across most of Pennsylvania.
Continue Reading New Funding Mechanisms for Municipal Stormwater Management

Much like a business corporation, a municipality can only act through its employees. A municipal official may inadvertently (or advertently) make representations regarding municipality business, leading to unintended consequences. Municipalities must keep in mind that their agents and employees, including township supervisors and other officials, can bind municipalities to agreements and subject them to liability…

This post was originally featured on the McNees Labor and Employment Blog.

Back in 2015, Pittsburgh enacted a paid sick leave ordinance, following a trend among cities throughout the country. Pittsburgh’s paid sick leave ordinance required employers with fifteen employees or more to provide up to forty hours of paid sick leave per calendar year. Employers with less than fifteen employees were not spared. The ordinance required that those employers provide up to twenty-four hours per calendar year. The impact: 50,000 workers would receive paid sick leave.

But, what authority did Pittsburgh have to impose such a requirement?
Continue Reading A Tale of Two Cities: The Demise of Pittsburgh’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance and the Durability of Philadelphia’s

On May 18, 2017, House Bill 1405 was introduced into the Pennsylvania General Assembly.  The proposed legislation, which would restrict a municipality’s ability to utilize revenue generated by a municipal electric system, would significantly impact 35 municipalities in PA that purchase wholesale power on behalf of residents and distribute the power through municipal-owned electric distribution system.
Continue Reading Electric Costs in Ellwood City Spur Proposed Legislation to Restrict Use of Electric Revenue to Fund Municipal Operations

Are municipal pension costs eating your budget alive?  Are streets, bridges, water and wastewater systems crying out for capital investment?  Are public safety costs pushing your budget to the brink?  If so, now may be the time to explore unlocking the value of your municipal assets.

Over the past five years, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has enacted several laws that have changed the landscape of municipal water and wastewater assets.  These changes make the sale of water or wastewater assets to a public utility more attractive.  These changes may also result in an increased sale price if your municipality decides to sell.
Continue Reading Broken Budget? The Fix May be a Sale of Assets

Pennsylvania State Senators John Blake, John DiSanto, and Mike Folmer recently introduced a trio of new municipal debt reform bills that follow on the package of reform bills introduced in the Senate in March. The new bills – Senate Bill 694, Senate Bill 695, and Senate Bill 696 – would expand the power of the Office of Attorney General to prosecute political crimes at the municipal level, increase the statute of limitations for such crimes, and require third class cities to put out for competitive bid all contracts for professional services.
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Senators Introduce New Municipal Debt Reform Bills

On May 17, 2017, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (“EQB”) greenlighted a proposal that would substantially increase fees for public water suppliers regulated by the Department of Environmental Protection (“PADEP”).  In addition to seeking the fee hike, the proposal would amend other regulations under the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”), with some changes being even more stringent than federal standards.  The proposal now will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin followed by a public comment period of at least 30 days.

Stakeholders should carefully review the proposal and consider submitting comments, including all community water systems, noncommunity water systems, and bottled, vended, retail, and bulk water suppliers.  Those affected may include municipalities with water supply systems and businesses that supply water to the public or their own employees.Continue Reading Public Water Suppliers Face Proposed Fee Increase and More-Stringent Standards

Following his inauguration on January 20th, President Trump issued several Executive Orders, one of which was issued on January 25, 2017 and titled, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” (referred to herein as the “Order”). Among other things, this Order punishes so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” by stripping them of federal grants. As justification for this punitive measure, the Order states that “sanctuary jurisdictions … willfully violate Federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal…. These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic.”

In the months since the Order, many state and local entities have parsed the Order to determine whether they would be considered a “sanctuary jurisdiction,” what funding may be in jeopardy, and whether they can modify their policies to limit or eliminate application of the Order. In the midst of these uncertainties, many municipalities also have been faced with the issue of how to address the potential consequences of “sanctuary jurisdiction” status in their public offering documents when they are considering issuing municipal bonds for sale to the investor public.Continue Reading Sanctuary Jurisdictions and Municipal Bond Disclosure

In January 2015, the Seventh Circuit, recognizing that it was an outlier among the Circuits in holding that pretrial detainees could not sue under the Fourth Amendment but rather instead sued under the Due Process Clause to challenge his/her detention, stated that a request by a detainee to overturn settled Circuit precedent was “better left for the Supreme Court.” In the Supreme Court’s words, it granted cert “on cue,” and on March 16, 2017, overturned the Seventh Circuit’s precedent by holding that pretrial detainees retained the right to sue under the Fourth Amendment over their detention for unlawful search and seizure. The Court held that the Fourth Amendment governs a claim for unlawful pretrial detention even beyond the start of legal process.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Reins in the Seventh Circuit and Reaffirms Fourth Amendment Protections