Pennsylvania Statutes Title 53 P.S. Municipal and Quasi-Municipal Corporations § 12720.601. Imposition of authority tax

(a) Tax imposed.--Notwithstanding anything contained in the act of August 5, 1932 (Sp.Sess. P.L. 45, No. 45), referred to as the Sterling Act,  1 the governing body of any city is hereby authorized to enact any combination of the following taxes, exclusively for purposes of the authority:

(b) Rate.--The rate of any tax which is enacted for the authority pursuant to this act, when combined with the rate of the same tax, if any, enacted by the governing body for city general revenue purposes, shall not exceed the maximum tax rate for such tax, if any, established by the General Assembly.  Any tax enacted pursuant to this section shall be known as the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority Tax.  For purposes of section 1 of the act of August 9, 1963 (P.L. 640, No. 338), entitled “An act empowering cities of the first class, coterminous with school districts of the first class, to authorize the boards of public education of such school districts to impose certain additional taxes for school district purposes, and providing for the levy, assessment and collection of such taxes,”  3 and notwithstanding any provision therein to the contrary, the limit on the annual rate of the school district tax on income from the ownership, lease, sale or other disposition of tangible and intangible real and personal property shall be the total rate of tax imposed upon the wages or net profits of city residents by the governing body as authorized by this act and by any other law.

(c) Credits.--If the city imposes taxes pursuant to the act of May 30, 1984 (P.L. 345, No. 69), known as the First Class City Business Tax Reform Act,  4 and provides credits of a percentage of the tax liability based upon net income under that act against a tax based upon net profits or gain pursuant to the Sterling Act and if the credits are not totally applied and exhausted against the city tax, the remaining credits shall be applied and charged against similar liability under any tax enacted pursuant to this section.

(d) Content of tax ordinance.--In any ordinance enacting such taxes, the city shall pledge to and agree with each and every obligee of the authority acquiring bonds secured by an authority pledge of such taxes that the city will not repeal the tax or reduce the rate of such tax imposed for such authority until all bonds so secured by the pledge of the authority, together with the interest thereon, are fully paid or provided for.  Once the taxes authorized to be enacted by this section are imposed by the city, the revenues from such taxes shall be revenues and property of the authority and shall not be revenues or property of the city.  Such taxes shall be collected by the Department of Revenue of the Commonwealth and shall not be subject to the appropriations by the governing body of the city or by the General Assembly.