2023 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes › Title 53 - MUNICIPALITIES GENERALLY › Chapter 29 - General Provisions › Section 2962 - Limitation on municipal powers

§ 2962. Limitation on municipal powers.
(a) Powers granted by statute.--
With respect to the following subjects, the home rule charter shall not give any power or authority to the municipality contrary to or in limitation or enlargement of powers granted by statutes which are applicable to a class or classes of municipalities:
(1) The filing and collection of municipal tax claims or liens and the sale of real or personal property in satisfaction of them.
(2) The procedures in the exercise of the powers of eminent domain and the assessment of damages and benefits for property taken, injured or destroyed.
(3) Boundary changes.
(4) Regulation of public schools.
(5) The registration of electors and the conduct of elections.
(6) The fixing of subjects of taxation.
(7) The fixing of the rates of nonproperty or personal taxes levied upon nonresidents.
(8) The assessment of real or personal property and persons for taxation purposes.
(9) Defining or providing for the punishment of any felony or misdemeanor.
(10) Municipal planning under the act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.805, No.247), known as the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
(11) The procedure for the filling of vacancies in the office of district attorney.
(b) Taxing power.--
Unless prohibited by the Constitution of Pennsylvania, the provisions of this subpart or any other statute or its home rule charter, a municipality which has adopted a home rule charter shall have the power and authority to enact and enforce local tax ordinances upon any subject of taxation granted by statute to the class of municipality of which it would be a member but for the adoption of a home rule charter at any rate of taxation determined by the governing body. No home rule municipality shall establish or levy a rate of taxation upon nonresidents which is greater than the rate which a municipality would have been authorized to levy on nonresidents but for the adoption of a home rule charter. The governing body shall not be subject to any limitation on the rates of taxation imposed upon residents.
(c) Prohibited powers.--
A municipality shall not:
(1) Engage in any proprietary or private business except as authorized by statute.
(2) Exercise powers contrary to or in limitation or enlargement of powers granted by statutes which are applicable in every part of this Commonwealth.
(3) Be authorized to diminish the rights or privileges of any former municipal employee entitled to benefits or any present municipal employee in his pension or retirement system.
(4) Enact or promulgate any ordinance or regulation with respect to definitions, sanitation, safety, health, standards of identity or labeling pertaining to the manufacture, processing, storage, distribution and sale of any foods, goods or services subject to any Commonwealth statutes and regulations unless the municipal ordinance or regulation is uniform in all respects with the Commonwealth statutes and regulations thereunder. This paragraph does not affect the power of any municipality to enact and enforce ordinances relating to building codes or any other safety, sanitation or health regulation pertaining thereto.
(5) Enact any provision inconsistent with any statute heretofore enacted prior to April 13, 1972, affecting the rights, benefits or working conditions of any employee of a political subdivision of this Commonwealth.
(d) Reduction of police force.--
Notwithstanding any provision of this subpart or any other statute to the contrary, any municipality that is or was a city of the second class A may reduce its police force or its firefighting force for economic reasons, as determined by ordinance.
(e) Statutes of general application.--
Statutes that are uniform and applicable in every part of this Commonwealth shall remain in effect and shall not be changed or modified by this subpart. Statutes shall supersede any municipal ordinance or resolution on the same subject.
(f) Regulation of business and employment.--
A municipality which adopts a home rule charter shall not determine duties, responsibilities or requirements placed upon businesses, occupations and employers, including the duty to withhold, remit or report taxes or penalties levied or imposed upon them or upon persons in their employment, except as expressly provided by statutes which are applicable in every part of this Commonwealth or which are applicable to all municipalities or to a class or classes of municipalities. This subsection shall not be construed as a limitation in fixing rates of taxation on permissible subjects of taxation.
(g) Regulation of firearms.--
A municipality shall not enact any ordinance or take any other action dealing with the regulation of the transfer, ownership, transportation or possession of firearms.
(h) Levying taxes.--
This section does not limit or take away any right of a municipality which adopts a home rule charter from levying any tax which it had the power to levy had it not adopted a home rule charter.
(i) Establishment of rates of taxation.--
No provision of this subpart or any other statute shall limit a municipality which adopts a home rule charter from establishing its own rates of taxation upon all authorized subjects of taxation except those specified in subsection (a)(7).
(j) Retroactive fee increase prohibited.--
A municipality which adopts a home rule charter may not retroactively increase any fee or charge for any municipal service which has been provided.
(Mar. 23, 2021, P.L.35, No.9, eff. imd.)
2021 Amendment.
Act 9 added subsec. (a)(11). Section 2 of Act 9 provided that the addition of subsec. (a)(11) is intended to preempt and supersede any contrary provision in a county home rule charter, ordinance or local administrative code.