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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY GIBBONS, HUTCHINSON, KULA, MAHONEY, McILVAINE SMITH, SIPTROTH, STURLA AND YOUNGBLOOD, MAY 29, 2009 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MAY 29, 2009 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Providing for municipal service grants and for powers and duties |
2 | of the Department of Community and Economic Development; and |
3 | making an appropriation. |
4 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
5 | hereby enacts as follows: |
6 | Section 1. Short title. |
7 | This act shall be known and may be cited as the Municipal |
8 | Service Grant Act. |
9 | Section 2. Definitions. |
10 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
11 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
12 | context clearly indicates otherwise: |
13 | "Department." The Department of Community and Economic |
14 | Development. |
15 | "Host municipality." The municipality where the majority of |
16 | tax-exempt properties owned by a university within the State |
17 | System of Higher Education lie. |
18 | "Impacted municipality." The municipality which provides the |
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1 | majority of primary municipal services, such as police, fire |
2 | protection and code enforcement to the off-campus student |
3 | population of the university within the State System of Higher |
4 | Education. |
5 | "Real estate tax millage rate." The millage rate designated |
6 | by a municipality for use on a university's tax-exempt property. |
7 | "University's tax-exempt property." The term includes any |
8 | tax-exempt properties used by a university within the State |
9 | System of Higher Education that are owned by the State System of |
10 | Higher Education, the Commonwealth, a university or a foundation |
11 | formed by the university. |
12 | Section 3. Municipal Service Grants. |
13 | Beginning with the 2008-2009 fiscal year and for each fiscal |
14 | year thereafter, the department shall make payments in the form |
15 | of grants for the purpose of reimbursing those municipalities |
16 | which provide primary municipal services to universities within |
17 | the State System of Higher Education. |
18 | Section 4. Reimbursable expenses. |
19 | Grants shall be awarded in accordance with section 5 and |
20 | shall be used to reimburse municipalities for all of the |
21 | following: |
22 | (1) The cost of providing primary municipal services to |
23 | a university within the State System of Higher Education. |
24 | (2) The loss of tax revenue incurred by the presence of |
25 | tax-exempt properties owned by a university within the State |
26 | System of Higher Education. |
27 | Section 5. Distribution formula. |
28 | Grants awarded under this act shall be distributed to each |
29 | municipality according to the following formula, and the data |
30 | utilized in the formula for each municipality shall be reviewed |
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1 | every three years by the department: |
2 | (1) Divide the university's full-time equivalent student |
3 | enrollment for the previous academic year by the total full- |
4 | time equivalent student enrollment for the previous academic |
5 | year of the State System of Higher Education, expressed as a |
6 | percentage. |
7 | (2) Multiply the municipality's real estate tax millage |
8 | rate by the assessed value of the university's tax-exempt |
9 | property to determine the tax revenue actually lost. Then |
10 | divide the result expressing the tax revenue lost by the sum |
11 | of the total tax revenue lost by all the municipalities |
12 | providing primary municipal services to universities within |
13 | the State System of Higher Education, expressed as a |
14 | percentage. |
15 | (3) To equally weight the two ratios, combine the |
16 | percentage under paragraph (1) with the percentage under |
17 | paragraph (2) and divide by two, expressed as a percentage. |
18 | (4) Multiply the result of paragraph (3) by the total |
19 | amount of funding appropriated for the purposes of this act. |
20 | Section 6. Main campus in multiple municipalities. |
21 | If a university's main campus is located in or immediately |
22 | adjacent to more than one municipality, the grant for primary |
23 | municipal services shall be allocated and distributed to each |
24 | affected municipality proportionately. Proportionality shall be |
25 | determined for the impacted municipality by the percentage |
26 | determined under section 5(1) and for the host municipality by |
27 | the percentage determined under section 5(2). Each factor |
28 | separately shall then be divided by two. Separately, each result |
29 | shall be multiplied by the total amount of funding appropriated |
30 | for the purposes of this act. The department shall designate |
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1 | only one municipality as the host municipality and only one |
2 | municipality as the impacted municipality for each regional |
3 | State System of Higher Education university. |
4 | Section 7. Appropriation. |
5 | The amount of $3,000,000 is hereby appropriated to the |
6 | Department of Community and Economic Development for the fiscal |
7 | year 2009-2010 to carry out the provisions of this act. |
8 | Section 8. Effective date. |
9 | This act shall take effect immediately. |
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