2023 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes › Title 35 - HEALTH AND SAFETY › Chapter 74 - Volunteer Firefighters › Section 7415 - Structure

§ 7415. Structure.
(a) General rule.
--A volunteer firefighters' relief association may be a body corporate, governed by a charter and bylaws or an unincorporated association of individuals governed by bylaws and a constitution. In either case, it must provide for taking and preserving minutes of all meetings and maintenance of such books of account as may be necessary and appropriate to afford a permanent record of its fiscal affairs.
(b) Constitution or charter.
--The constitution or charter shall:
(1) State the name, purposes and form of the organization.
(2) Designate the class or classes of persons eligible for membership and procedures to be followed in making amendments.
(c) Bylaws.
--The bylaws shall:
(1) Specify the requirements for securing membership, voting rights of different classes of members, if there be different classes, and conditions under which membership may be terminated.
(2) State the notice requirements and procedure to be followed in calling meetings, as well as quorum requirements for regular and special meetings of the membership and for regular and special meetings of the body which governs the operations of the association between membership meetings, and shall designate that body, whether it be a board of directors, trustees or any similar body such as an executive committee. Unless otherwise provided for in the bylaws, powers and duties of officers, directors and trustees shall be those which normally pertain to such positions in nonprofit corporations.
(3) Require that the signatures of at least two officers, one of whom shall be the disbursing officer, shall be required to bind the association by formal contract or to issue a negotiable instrument.
(4) Require that the disbursing officer, whether designated treasurer, comptroller, financial secretary or otherwise, shall be bonded by corporate surety for faithful performance of duty. The amount of the bond shall be at least as great as the maximum cash balance in current funds of the association at any time during the fiscal year, and the premium on the bond shall be a proper charge against funds of the association.
(5) State the procedure to be followed in nominating and electing officers, trustees, directors and members of the executive committee, according to the provisions which have been made for establishment of those positions.
(6) Establish procedures for the approval and payment of expenditures, investment of funds and sale of investments.
(7) Set out the procedure to be followed in amending bylaws.
(8) Specify notice required with respect to proposed bylaw amendments, including the time, place and date when the proposed amendments shall be considered.
(9) Be faithfully preserved, along with amendments thereto and the effective date of the amendments, in permanent form.
(10) Contain such other provisions as may, to the membership, seem appropriate or necessary to the orderly conduct of affairs of the association.
(d) Standing procedures.
--In addition to adopting bylaws, an association may adopt standing procedures, which shall be such matters as the membership may regard to be of a routine nature. Standing procedures may be adopted, modified or repealed by motion and majority vote but shall not be inconsistent with the bylaws, and they shall be recorded as an appendix to the bylaws.
(e) Charitable corporation.
--A volunteer firefighters' relief association organized or conducted in accordance with the requirements of this section shall be regarded as a charitable corporation for all purposes, including the right to establish exemption from the operation of certain taxes.