Pennsylvania Statutes Title 53 P.S. Municipal and Quasi-Municipal Corporations § 11701.121. Powers and duties of department

(a) Compile financial data.--

(b) Assess data.--A power and duty of the department shall be to apply the criteria of section 201 to data and information on the fiscal status of municipalities to assess the validity and applicability of an indication of municipal financial distress.  In assessing validity and applicability, the department shall undertake a review process, including, but not limited to, consultation, correspondence and visits with a municipality which appears to be financially distressed, notwithstanding the provisions of section 2501-C(e) and (f) of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L. 177, No. 175),  2 known as The Administrative Code of 1929, which limits department intervention to incidences when such is requested by the municipality.  If the department determines that a municipality needs assistance to correct minor fiscal problems, the department shall offer appropriate recommendations, including a recommendation that the municipality submit an application as provided in Chapter 1-A.  3  If the municipality adopts those recommendations, the department need take no further action.

(c) Notify agencies of determination.--Upon the making of a determination by the secretary that a municipality is distressed pursuant to section 203(f),  4 the department shall immediately notify the heads of all Commonwealth agencies of the determination.  The department shall, by January 1 of each year thereafter, notify the heads of all Commonwealth agencies of the priority funding requirement for distressed municipalities as provided in section 282.  5

(d) Act as analyzer of municipal reports.--A power and duty of the department shall be to act as the Commonwealth analyzer for relevant reports, data and information required by law to be filed by municipalities with any Commonwealth agency when such reports, data and information directly relate to the financial conditions of municipalities.  The department shall, in consultation with every Commonwealth agency, determine which reports, data and information relate to the fiscal condition of municipalities.  Upon an indication of distress in a municipality through information available to the department, the department shall request data, reports and information from all Commonwealth agencies to assist the department to substantiate a possible distress status of a municipality.

(e) Furnish program data to municipality.--Upon receipt of information forwarded to the department by each Commonwealth agency pursuant to section 122(a),  6 the department shall furnish this information to the distressed municipality coordinator for possible inclusion of such information into the plan developed by the coordinator in accordance with Subchapter C of Chapter 2.

(f) Develop early warning system.--In conjunction with assessing a municipality's current fiscal stability under subsections (a) and (b) and section 201, the department shall develop an early warning system utilizing necessary fiscal and socioeconomic variables to identify municipal financial emergencies before they reach crisis proportions and to notify an affected municipality appropriately.  The department shall be responsible for testing the validity and reliability of these variables and shall continuously monitor them to assure their effectiveness.  In developing an early warning system, the department may employ or contract with municipal fiscal consultants as deemed necessary to execute the provisions of this subsection.  Notice shall be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin that the early warning system has been developed and the system may not become operational until the publication of the notice.

(g) Distribute grants and loans.--The department shall distribute grants and loans to financially distressed municipalities in accordance with Chapter 3.

(h) Promulgate rules and regulations.--The department shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act.