On October 16, 2024, Governor Shapiro signed Act 1100 of 2024, which made the following four changes to the Borough Code:
First, Section 1059.3 now provides that an elected or appointed borough official may not be surcharged if the official acted in good faith and relied on a written or publicly disclosed opinion of the borough solicitor. If the solicitor publicly stated an opinion at an open meeting and recorded it in the official minutes of the meeting, a borough official acting in good faith may rely on this opinion. However, this does not apply if the solicitor’s opinion is made under duress or if the opinion was sought out to purposefully commit a violation of the law.
Next, under Sections 1141-1143, a borough may hire a partnership, professional corporation, or a limited partnership to serve in the role of borough manager. This new change allows for the borough to hire an outside firm, similar to hiring the solicitor, to now manage the borough, and serve in this role. Throughout the Commonwealth, filling the role of the manager has proven to be a struggle, and this change aims to remedy that issue.
Third, Section 1174 now permits the civil service commission to reorganize within thirty days of the first Monday in January of each even numbered year. This change provides more flexibility, as the Code previously required the commission to organize on the first Monday of every even numbered year.
Finally, Section 1307 permits that the preliminary budget may be prepared at any time before the adoption of the final budget, so long as there is still a ten day public inspection of the preliminary budget and public notice.
Most of these changes allow for new flexibility for the borough and bring the Borough Code closer in line with changes made in 2022 to the First-Class Township Code. Adopting these changes should allow boroughs to operate quickly and more smoothly since there is now newfound flexibility!
Nicole Marzzacco
Attorney
Learn more about Nicole here.
