Pennsylvania § 311 - Ascertainment, certification and effect of change of class.

§ 311. Ascertainment, certification and effect of change of class.

(a) Ascertainment.--The classification of counties shall be ascertained and fixed according to population by reference to the Federal decennial census under this section, less the number of individuals residing on lands that have been ceded to the United States.

(b) Certification.--

(1) The Governor, under the great seal of this Commonwealth, shall certify the following to the county commissioners on or before October 1 of the year succeeding the year in which the Federal decennial census was taken:

(i) that a Federal decennial census shows that a county has attained a population entitling the county to an advance in classification; or

(ii) that the last two preceding Federal decennial censuses show that a county has decreased in population so as to recede in classification, as provided under this section.

(2) The county commissioners shall forward the certificate under paragraph (1) to the recorder of deeds, and the certificate shall be recorded in the recorder's office.

(c) Intent.--It is recognized that a change in the form of local government is attended by certain expense and hardship and the change should not be occasioned by a temporary fluctuation in population. Therefore, it is the intent of this section that the classification of a county may not be changed because its population has decreased at the time of one Federal decennial census, but rather only after the change is demonstrated by two Federal decennial censuses that the population of a county has remained below the minimum figure of its class for at least a decade.

(d) Change in class.--

(1) Changes of class ascertained and certified shall take effect on January 1 next following the year in which the change was certified by the Governor to the county commissioners, except that the salaries of county officers may not be increased or decreased during the term for which the county officers have been elected.

(2) In the municipal election following the certification of change of class and preceding the effective date of the change, the proper number of individuals shall be elected to fill an elective office which will exist in the county by the change of classification certified. An election may not be held for an office which will be abolished as a result of a change of classification.

(e) Delayed 2020 Federal decennial census.--Unless the board of commissioners of a county meeting the requisite county population levels in section 310 (relating to counties divided into nine classes) enacts an ordinance or adopts a resolution approving a change of classification prior to February 22, 2022, as a result of the delays in the 2020 Federal decennial census and the COVID-19 pandemic, the classification of all counties as of October 1, 2021, shall remain unchanged until the 2030 census, at which time the procedures established in subsections (a), (b), (c) and (d) shall apply. For the purposes of determining whether a county has decreased in population so as to recede in classification under subsections (b) and (c) following the 2030 decennial census, both the 2020 and 2030 decennial censuses shall be considered.

Cross References. Section 311 is referred to in section 102 of this title.