[Amended 8-26-1996 by Ord. No. 24-1996]
Editor's Note: Sections 215 through 224 of the Charter provide:
§ 215. Ordinances in general.
Council may legislate by passage of an ordinance. All ordinances introduced shall be kept in a place accessible to the public at all reasonable times. Final action on all ordinances shall take place during public meetings.
§ 216. Form of ordinance.
Every ordinance shall have a title clearly expressing its subject and every ordinance shall contain only one subject.
§ 217. Procedures.
(a) The first reading of an ordinance may be introduced by any member at any regular or special meeting of the Council without vote.
(b) After the first reading, the City Clerk shall distribute a copy of the proposed ordinance to each Council member and to the Mayor and shall file and make available a reasonable number of copies in the office of the City Clerk.
§ 218. Final passage of ordinance resolutions.
A minimum of 14 days must intervene between introduction and passage of an ordinance unless Council finds and declares a public emergency posing a sudden, clear and present danger to life or property.
§ 219. Effective date of legislation.
Every adopted ordinance except emergency legislation shall become effective at the expiration of 30 days after passage by Council and approval by the Mayor, or repassage by Council over the Mayor's veto, or at a date specified therein, but not less than 10 days after adoption.
§ 220. Emergency ordinance.
An emergency ordinance may be adopted to meet a public emergency posing a sudden, clear and present danger to life or property. An emergency ordinance shall be introduced in the form and manner prescribed for ordinance generally, except that it shall be plainly designated as an emergency ordinance and shall describe in clear and specific terms the nature of the emergency. Every emergency ordinance shall automatically stand repealed as of the 91st day following the date on which it was adopted, but this shall not prevent reenactment of the ordinance if the emergency still exists.
§ 221. Submission to Mayor and veto power.
Before any ordinance takes effect, it must first be submitted to the Mayor for approval. The Mayor shall sign the ordinance within 10 days, if approved, but if not, shall return it to Council stating objections. Council shall, at its next meeting, reconsider the ordinance and may pass it over the Mayor's veto by the affirmative vote of five members of City Council.
If the Mayor fails within 10 days after any ordinance is submitted to him to sign the ordinance and/or return it to Council, such ordinance shall be considered adopted at the expiration of the ten-day period.
The veto power of the Mayor shall not apply to ordinances adopted by initiative or referendum.
§ 222. Recording of ordinances.
All ordinances shall be contained in permanent separate record books. The ordinance book and all other actions taken by Council at a public meeting shall be open and available for public inspection at normal business hours in the office of the City Clerk, and a copy in the Reading Public Library.
§ 223. Codification of ordinances.
Within three years after the effective date of this Charter, the Council shall provide for a codification with an index of ordinances of the City. No later than three months after the close of each year, Council, with the assistance of the City's legal department, shall classify ordinances according to the division and subdivision of the Code for insertion in the Code during said year.
§ 224. Action by resolution or motion.
Nothing in the article is intended to preclude Council from taking appropriate action by resolution or motion.
(1) Adopt or amend the codes or establish, alter, or abolish any unit of the City.
(2) Provide for a fine or other penalty or establish a rule or regulation for which a fine or other penalty is imposed.
(3) Levy taxes and provide for service charges, permit fees and assessments.
(4) Grant, renew or extend a franchise.
Editor's Note: Sections 905, 912 and 913 of the Charter provide:
§ 905. City Council action on budget.
(a) Notice and hearing. Council shall publish in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the City the general summary of the budget with a notice stating:
(1) The times and places where copies of the budget message and budget document are available for inspection by the public.
(2) The time, place and date, not less than 15 days or more than 30 days after such publication, for a public hearing on the budget. The public hearing shall not be on the date of a regular Council meeting.
(3) The proposed budget shall be available for public inspection at City Hall and copies shall be available for the public at a reasonable fee to be set by the Council.
(b) Amendment before adoption.
After the public hearing, the City Council may adopt the budget, with or without amendment. In amending the budget, it may add or increase programs or amounts and may delete or decrease any programs, or amounts, except expenditures required by law or for debt service or for an estimated cash deficit, provided that no amendment to the budget shall increase the authorized expenditures to an amount greater than total estimated income and thereby allowing for line item changes by the City Council.
If the amended budget increases, decreases or readjusts funding requirements by more than 5%, or adds or deletes a program, the Budget shall be returned to the Mayor immediately for comment and resubmission to the Council within three normal City work days.
Council shall provide for another public hearing to be held within five days after the Mayor has resubmitted the budget.
(c) Adoption. Council must adopt an annual budget by no later than December 15 of the fiscal year currently ending. If Council fails to adopt a budget by December 15, then the Mayor's original proposed balanced budget shall become the official budget of the City for the ensuing fiscal year.
§ 912. City Council action on capital program.
(a) Notice and hearing. Council shall publish in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the City the general summary of the capital program with a notice stating:
(1) The times and places where copies of the capital program message and capital program document are available for inspection by the public.
(2) The time, place and date, not less than 15 days or more than 30 days after such publication, for a public hearing on the capital program. The public hearing shall not be on the date of a regular Council meeting or on hearing date of the operating budget.
(3) The proposed capital program shall be available for public inspection at City Hall and copies shall be available for the public at a reasonable fee to be set by the Council.
(b) Adoption. Council must adopt an annual capital program by no later than December 15 of the fiscal year currently ending. If Council fails to adopt a capital program by December 15, then the Mayor's original capital program shall become the official capital program of the City for the ensuing fiscal year.
§ 913. Public records.
Copies of the budget, capital program and appropriation and revenue ordinances shall be public records and shall be made available to the public at suitable places in the City
(6) Repeal or amend any ordinance.
(7) Adopt procedures for purchasing of products, goods, or services, for the making of contracts and for the sale or lease of personal or real property of the City, as required by the Administrative Code, Chapter 5, Exhibit A,
3
Part 13, Sale of Property. (See Charter, § 915.) [Amended 11-23-2015 by Ord. No. 81-2015]
3. Editor's Note: Exhibit A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
Editor's Note: Section 915 of the Charter provides:
§ 915. Bidding process.
(a) Whenever the estimated cost of any construction, erection, installation, completion, alteration, repair of, or addition to, any project subject to the control of the City shall exceed $10,000, it shall be the duty of the City to have such work performed pursuant to a contract, awarded to the lowest responsible bidder [subject to Subsection (2)(d)] hereof, after advertisement for bids. Every such contract shall contain a provision obligating the contractor to the prompt payment of all material furnished, labor supplied or performed, rental for equipment employed, and services rendered by public utilities in or in connection with the prosecution of the work, whether or not the said material, labor, equipment or service enter into and become component parts of the work or improvement contemplated. Such provision shall be deemed to be included for the benefit of every person, copartnership, association or corporation who, as subcontractor or otherwise has furnished material supplied or performed labor, rented equipment or services in or in connection with the prosecution of the work as aforesaid, and the inclusion thereof in any contract shall preclude the filing by any such person, copartnership, association or corporation of any mechanics' lien claim for such material, labor or rental of equipment.
(b) Whenever the estimated costs of any purchase of supplies, materials or equipment or the rental of any equipment, whether or not the same is to be used in connection with the construction, erection, installation, completion, alteration, repair of, or addition to, any project subject to the control of the City, shall exceed $10,000, it shall be the duty of the City to have such purchase or rental made pursuant to a contract awarded to the lowest responsible bidder [subject to Subsection (2)(d)] hereof, after advertisement for bids, such advertisement to be inserted in a newspaper of general circulation in Berks County.
(1) The City shall not evade the provisions of Subsection (a) or (b) as to advertising for bids by purchasing materials or contracting for services piecemeal for the purpose of obtaining prices under $10,000 upon transactions which should, in the exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence, be conducted as one transaction amounting to more than $10,000. This provision is intended to make unlawful the practice of evading advertising requirements by making a series of purchases or contracts, each for less than the advertising requirement price, or by making several simultaneous purchases or contracts, each below said price, when, in either case, the transactions involved should have been made as one transaction for one price.
(2) Written or telephonic price quotations from at least three qualified and responsible contractors shall be requested for all contracts that exceed $4,000 but are less than the amount requiring advertisement and competitive bidding or, in lieu of price quotations, a memorandum shall be kept on file showing that fewer than three qualified contractors exist in the market area within which it is practicable to obtain quotations. A written record of telephonic price quotations shall be made and shall contain at least the date of the quotation, the name of the contractor and the contractor's representative, the construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or work which was the subject of the quotation and the price. Written price quotations and written records of telephonic price quotations and memoranda shall be retained for a period of three years.
(c) The City shall require as a condition of the award of any contract, pursuant to Subsection (a) or (b) of this section, that the contractor give to the City any bond or letter of credit (including bonds for the performance of the contract, and for the prompt payment by the contractor for material, supplies, labor, services and equipment) which are prescribed by law for contracts awarded by cities of the third class.
(d) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this section, City Council may, in those cases where an individual or company with headquarters in the City submits a bid which is within 10% of the lowest bid, award the contract to said individual or company. In acting pursuant to this provision, City Council shall find that such an award will be in the best interests of the citizens of the City. The City Council must show just cause for the awarding of such contracts to locally owned companies who provide local labor, materials or produced goods.
(e) All contracts shall be on file in the office of the City Auditor and shall be available for public inspection during normal business hours.
(8) Adopt other actions which are legislative in nature.
(9) Authorize the borrowing of money.
(10) Purchase, convey or lease lands or buildings.
(11) Adopt zoning, subdivision or other land use controls.
(12) Adopt the annual position ordinance, the official listing of all authorized City employment positions, which authorizes the Administration to hire and compensate all employees, defined in § 70-201, Categories of employment. [Added 10-26-2009 by Ord. No. 60-2009]
B. Ordinance form and procedure.
(1) Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in writing and in the form required for final adoption. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The enacting clause shall be "The City of Reading, Pennsylvania ordains . . . " Any ordinance which repeals or amends an existing ordinance shall set out the full ordinance, sections or subsections to be repealed or amended, and shall indicate matter to be omitted by enclosing it in brackets or by strikeout type and shall indicate new matter by underscoring or by italics.
(2) An ordinance may be introduced by any member of the Council at any regular or special meeting of the Council without vote. After introduction of any ordinance, a copy shall be distributed to each Council member and to the Mayor, and a reasonable number of copies shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk and in such other public places such as the Council may designate by resolution. (See the Charter, §§ 216 and 217.)
Editor's Note: Sections 216 and 217 of the Charter provide:
§ 216. Form of ordinance.
Every ordinance shall have a title clearly expressing its subject and every ordinance shall contain only one subject.
§ 217. Procedures.
(a) The first reading of an ordinance may be introduced by any member at any regular or special meeting of the Council without vote.
(b) After the first reading, the City Clerk shall distribute a copy of the proposed ordinance to each Council member and to the Mayor and shall file and make available a reasonable number of copies in the office of the City Clerk.
C. Ordinance requiring prior public notice and hearing. No final action shall be taken on the following types of ordinances and amendments thereto without public hearing thereon and at least 10 days' published notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the City:
(1) Zoning ordinance and amendments thereto.
(2) Adoption of the Zoning Map and amendments thereto.
(3) Subdivision regulations.
(4) Land development and land use regulations.
(5) New taxes, or increases in the rate of existing taxes.
(6) Adopt and/or amend the annual budget and capital program.
D. Enactment of ordinance.
(1) Emergency ordinance, refer to the Charter, § 220.
Editor's Note: Section 220 of the Charter provides:
§ 220. Emergency Ordinance.
An emergency ordinance may be adopted to meet a public emergency posing a sudden, clear and present danger to life or property. An emergency ordinance shall be introduced in the form and manner prescribed for ordinance generally, except that it shall be plainly designated as an emergency ordinance and shall describe in clear and specific terms the nature of the emergency. Every emergency ordinance shall automatically stand repealed as of the 91st day following the date on which it was adopted, but this shall not prevent reenactment of the ordinance if the emergency still exists.
(2) An action on any ordinance bill shall be at a public meeting of Council and shall be by majority vote of the Council as a whole, and attested by the City Clerk who shall affix the municipal seal and insert the dates of the Council actions.
(3) Five votes shall be required to:
(a) Override a mayoral veto.
(b) Approve capital projects.
E. Recording.
(1) Within two weeks of the enactment of an ordinance, the City Clerk shall send an electronic copy of the enacted ordinance to the IT Division, who shall post the ordinance on the City's website and link it to the applicable section of the City Code posted on the website. By May 31 annually, the City Clerk shall cause to be recorded in the Municipal Ordinance Book a verbatim copy of each enacted ordinance, which shall contain a notation of the date of enactment and the name of the newspaper and date, if any, on which publication was made. (see Charter, § 222.) [Amended 4-9-2012 by Ord. No. 42-2012]
Editor's Note: Section 222 of the Charter provides:
§ 222. Recording of ordinances.
All ordinances shall be contained in permanent separate record books. The ordinance book and all other actions taken by Council at a public meeting shall be open and available for public inspection at normal business hours in the office of the City Clerk, and a copy in the Reading Public Library.
(2) It shall not be necessary to record in the Ordinance Book the full text of any ordinance where there is a specific provision in the laws of Pennsylvania permitting adoption and recording by reference or in the case of an ordinance adopting, with or without amendment or modification, any standard building, plumbing, electrical, housing, or other technical code complete in itself, for the regulation of trade, occupation or line of activity or undertaking, but in the latter cases, it shall be necessary only to record the ordinance adopting the same by reference and indicating the municipal office where the complete code or ordinances shall be available.
(3) Whenever an ordinance shall be specifically amended or repealed, the City Clerk shall cause a notation to that effect to be made in the Ordinance Book at the location where the recording of such ordinance shall commence.
(4) Whenever an ordinance shall prescribe a condition to its becoming effective, in the nature of an acceptance by a party thereto, the meeting of such condition or the failure to meet the same shall likewise be noted by the appropriate place in the Ordinance Book.
F. Codes of technical regulations. (See the Charter, § 216.) The Council may adopt any standard Code of Technical Regulations by reference thereto in an adopting ordinance as prescribed for ordinances generally, except that:
Editor's Note: Section 216 of the Charter provides:
§ 216. Form of ordinance.
Every ordinance shall have a title clearly expressing its subject and every ordinance shall contain only one subject.
(1) The procedures and requirements governing such adopting ordinances shall be construed to include copies of technical regulations as well as the adopting ordinance.
(2) A copy of each adopted Code shall be attached to the adopting ordinance shall be authenticated and recorded.
G. Availability of ordinances and copies thereof. The Ordinance Book shall be open and available for public inspection during office hours, and copies of ordinances shall be obtainable upon payment of a reasonable reproduction charge.
H. Enforcement of ordinances, procedures and penalties. Unless otherwise prescribed by City ordinance or other applicable law, any violation of an ordinance shall constitute a civil violation, as defined by the laws of the commonwealth, and shall be prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the commonwealth and the Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
(1) Penalties. Except where specific penalties are provided elsewhere by ordinance or other applicable law, any person or entity who shall violate any ordinance or any provision of any code or other regulation adopted by reference in an ordinance shall, upon adjudication and finding of a violation, pay a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each offense, plus costs of prosecution and attorney's fees where authorized; all such penalties shall be collected as provided by law.
(2) Continuing violations. Each day any violation continues shall constitute a separate offense and the person or entity responsible for such violation shall be punished as provided above for each separate offense.
(3) Abatement of nuisances. In addition to the penalties and other remedies herein provided, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any ordinance will be deemed a public nuisance and may be abated by the City with the costs of such abatement borne by the person or entity owning the property upon which condition exists. Such costs will be collected for the use of the City as debts by law are collected or by a municipal claim or lien filed as provided by law. Each day that such condition continues shall be regarded as a separate offense.
(4) Action at law or in equity. In addition to the enforcement of provisions herein provided, the City may institute an appropriate action or proceeding at law or in equity against a person or entity responsible for violation of any ordinance and request either or both of the following remedies:
(a) To cease, correct or remove the violation.
(b) To enforce the penalty provisions of the ordinance or seek other remedies as are just and reasonable.
(5) Cumulative penalties. Whenever the Administrative Code or any ordinance provides alternative penalties or remedies, they shall be cumulative. The imposition of any such penalty or remedy shall not prevent the City from invoking any other penalty or remedy provided therefor.
I. Actions of Council other than ordinance adoption. (See Charter, § 224.) Other business of Council may be undertaken by adoption of resolutions, enactment of proclamations, or the approval of motions which shall require a simple majority vote of Council unless otherwise required by law.
Editor's Note: Section 224 of the Charter provides:
§ 224. Action by resolution or motion.
Nothing in the article is intended to preclude Council from taking appropriate action by resolution or motion.