2023 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes › Title 53 - MUNICIPALITIES GENERALLY › Chapter 29 - General Provisions › Section 2963 - Exercise of municipal powers by home rule county

§ 2963. Exercise of municipal powers by home rule county.
A county which has adopted a home rule charter shall not at any time thereafter exercise within any municipality in the county a power or function being exercised by that municipality, except under all of the following conditions:
(1) The exercise of such power or function by the county shall be authorized by ordinance of the governing body of the county, which ordinance, in addition to such other filings as may be required by law, shall be filed with the clerk or secretary of each local municipality within the county within 30 days of its enactment.
(2) The transfer of a power or function to the county from any local municipality within the county, as authorized by the ordinance, shall not become effective for at least 15 months from the date of adoption of the ordinance.
(3) Within 120 days from the adoption of the ordinance, the governing body of any local municipality, exercising on the date of the adoption of the ordinance any power or function authorized by ordinance of the county to be exercised by the county, may elect by ordinance to be excluded from the county's exercise of the power or function. Within 60 days after the date of adoption by the governing body of a local municipality of an ordinance excluding the local municipality from the exercise by the county of a power or function or in the absence of any action of the governing body, the qualified electors of the local municipality may initiate a petition requiring that the question of inclusion or exclusion from the exercise of the power or function by the county be submitted to a referendum of the electorate at the election held on the date of the next ensuing primary, municipal or general election not less than 60 days after the filing of the initiative petition with the county board of elections. The initiative and referendum procedures set forth in this subchapter or Subchapter F (relating to general provisions and limitations for optional plan municipalities) shall be followed, except where the same may be inconsistent with any of the provisions of this section. In the event the county determines there is insufficient interest or that it is not feasible to establish the proposed municipal function or power as provided for in the ordinance passed by the county, the county may repeal the county ordinance prior to the effective date of the ordinance.
(4) The governing body of any local municipality may by ordinance, subsequent to the time limit for action as set forth in paragraph (3), request the county to be included in a municipal power or function being exercised by the county. However, the county may specify the terms and conditions for acceptance or denial of the power or function requested by the local municipality to be exercised by the county, which shall be subject to court review if the local municipality determines that the terms and conditions as set forth by the county are unreasonable.
(5) No assessment, tax, fee or levy in the nature thereof made by the governing body of a county in support of the exercise of a power or function as authorized by ordinance of the county shall be applicable in any local municipality within the county which is providing the same municipal power or function.
(6) If the electors of a local municipality by referendum vote to exclude the local municipality from the exercise of a power or function by the county, a petition may not be initiated nor may a referendum be held on the same question more often than every five years thereafter.
(7) A local municipality may, by action of the governing body or by initiative and referendum, withdraw from a power or function which it was exercising at the date of the adoption of the county home rule charter which it transferred to a county, provided it again assumes and exercises the power or function, but may not vote on the question of withdrawing sooner than four years from the time the county assumed the power or function of the local municipality.