Governor Tom Wolf signed Senate Bill 841 today that helps local communities and businesses respond to the COVID-19 emergency and protect the public. The bill provides flexibility on property tax deadlines, allows remote public meetings and notarization of documents so online vehicle sales can resume.
The bill does the following:
- Reauthorizes the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and requires it to study the impact of COVID-19 on hospitals and health systems.
- Allows local governments to conduct remote public meetings.
- Provides property tax relief by allowing taxing districts to waive late fees and penalties for property taxes paid by December 31, 2020.
- Allows school districts to renegotiate contracts with service providers to ensure payment of personnel and fixed costs during the school closure.
- Allows remote notarization of documents.
Regarding Remote Public Meetings
The bill permits, during the disaster emergency, local government meetings to be held via an “authorized telecommunications device” without having a quorum of the members present in a physical location. “Authorized telecommunications device” includes any device that permits, at a minimum, audio communication among individuals.
Advance notice to the public and public participation are required, to the extent practicable. Public notice can be affected via posting notice of each meeting on the Township’s web-site or in an advertisement in a newspaper of general publication, or both. The notice must include the date, time, technology to be used and public participation information. Public participation can occur through an authorized telecommunication device, or written comments submitted through physical mail or to an email account.
Your new post is loading...
Related: