Pennsylvania Statutes Title 8 Pa.C.S.A. Boroughs and Incorporated Towns § 818. Change in number of members of council

(a) Petition by electors.--The court of common pleas shall, upon petition of at least 5% of the registered electors of any borough not divided into wards, certify the question of a proposal to reduce the total number of members of council for the borough to five or three or increase the total number of members of council for the borough to five or seven, as specified by the petition, to the board of election of the county for a referendum vote of the residents at the next general election held not sooner than the thirteenth Tuesday after the date of the petition. The sufficiency of the number of signers to the petition shall be ascertained as of the date when the petition is presented to court. Upon receipt of the certified election results, the court shall enter a final decree granting or denying the request of the petitioners. A petition under this section may not be considered more than once in five years.

(b) Deleted by 2020, June 5, P.L. 211, No. 28, § 2, effective in 60 days [Aug. 4, 2020].

(c) Number to be elected by decree.--In its decree under subsection (a), the court shall establish a schedule for the subsequent election of council members at the next two municipal elections. The members of council then in office shall remain in office until the end of their respective terms. Thereafter, the schedule may provide that the initial term of one or more of the council members subsequently elected be reduced to accommodate a schedule of staggered at-large elections to eventually ensure that, as nearly as possible, one-half of the members of council elected will be elected at each municipal election. At all following municipal elections, the proper number of members of council shall be elected to correspond to the number of members of council whose terms are to expire the first Monday of the following January.

(d) (Reserved).

(e) Terms.--In any borough in which, under this section, the number of members of council shall be reduced or increased, the members of council then in office shall remain in office until the end of their respective terms.