Section 11701.102 - Purpose and legislative intent(a)Policy.--It is hereby declared to be a public policy of the Commonwealth to foster fiscal integrity of municipalities so that they provide for the health, safety and welfare of their citizens; pay principal and interest on their debt obligations when due; meet financial obligations to their employees, vendors and suppliers; and provide for proper financial accounting procedures, budgeting and taxing practices. The failure of a municipality to do so is hereby determined to affect adversely the health, safety and welfare not only of the citizens of the municipality but also of other citizens in this Commonwealth.(b)Legislative intent.--The General Assembly finds and declares as follows: (1) It is the intent of the General Assembly to:(i) Enact procedures to provide municipalities showing early indicators of financial distress with training and technical and financial assistance.(ii) Enact procedures and provide powers and guidelines to ensure fiscal integrity of municipalities while leaving principal responsibility for conducting the governmental affairs of a municipality, including choosing the priorities for and manner of expenditures based on available revenues, to the charge of its elected officials, consistent with the public policy set forth in this section.(iii) Enact procedures for the adjustment of municipal debt by negotiated agreement with creditors.(iv) Provide for the exercise of the Commonwealth's sovereign and plenary police power in emergency fiscal conditions to protect the health, safety and welfare of a municipality's citizens when local officials are unwilling or unable to accept a solvency plan developed for the benefit of the municipality.(v) Provide for the exercise of the Commonwealth's sovereign and plenary power to establish and abolish local government units and provide essential services in areas of this Commonwealth in which the fiscal integrity of existing local government units cannot be sustained.(2) Changing and deteriorating economic conditions, developing technologies and attendant unemployment erode local tax bases and threaten essential municipal services. Under such circumstances, such distressed governmental units may no longer be viable and that the citizens of those communities should be granted the opportunity in accordance with law to voluntarily consolidate or merge their municipalities with other municipalities in an effort to allow municipal boundaries to reflect the geographic and economic realities of a distressed area, to merge a common community of interest, to take advantage of economies of scale in providing services and to create an expanded revenue base to provide necessary public services to the citizens of financially distressed municipalities.(3) Policies of certain municipalities are so ineffective and the financial conditions so severe that the provision of vital and necessary services is threatened.(4) Sustained failure of a municipality to enact or implement a fiscal plan to adequately address or prevent insolvency after repeated opportunities to do so: (i) constitutes a fiscal emergency; and(ii) signifies: (A) a breakdown in the function of municipal government;(B) a dereliction of its elected officials' paramount public duty to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of its citizens; and(C) a threat to the fiscal stability of neighboring communities.(5) Pursuant to the Commonwealth's paramount right and duty to maintain law and order and protect and preserve the health, safety and welfare of its citizens and ensure compliance with this act under Article IX of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, the Governor is authorized to act in the face of a fiscal emergency under paragraph (4)(i) and dereliction of official duty under paragraph (4)(ii)(B).(6) Municipalities may face such deteriorated economic conditions that all reasonable efforts to restore economic viability have failed and merger or consolidation cannot occur through any means provided by law. It is the intent of the General Assembly that, for municipalities incapable of continuing to function as general purpose units of local government, procedures exist to ensure the provision of essential and vital public services to the residents of those areas absent a functioning municipal government. 1987, July 10, P.L. 246, No. 47, § 102, effective in 60 days. Amended 2011, Oct. 20, P.L. 318, No. 79, § 1, imd. effective; 2014, Oct. 31, P.L. 2983, No. 199, § 2, effective in 60 days [Dec. 30, 2014].