53 Pa. Stat. § 5592

Current through Pa Acts 2024-53, 2024-56 through 2024-111
Section 5592 - Validation of proceedings and elections notwithstanding specified defects

All proceedings and elections heretofore had and held by any county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district within this Commonwealth to increase its indebtedness under the method of procedure specified by the provisions of the act, approved the twentieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred seventy-four (Pamphlet Laws, sixty-five), entitled, "An act to regulate the manner of increasing the indebtedness of municipalities, to provide for the redemption of the same, and to impose penalties for the illegal increase thereof", and the acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto, where the majority of votes cast at such election was in favor of the increase of indebtedness and where the purpose of the proposed increase of indebtedness is to provide for the construction of sanitary and surface sewers and the improvement of the public streets and alleys by the aid and assistance of labor and material furnished in whole or in part by the State or Federal governments and for the prosecution, carrying on and financing any projects receiving State or Federal approval by whatever name the local agency may be styled or denominated be, and the same are hereby ratified, confirmed and made valid, notwithstanding the authorities of such county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district either did not, or by separate and independent action did not, prior to the ordinance or vote in pursuance of which notice of election was given to the electors, signify their desire for such increase of indebtedness, or did not, in the words of the act and amendments and supplements aforesaid authorizing such increase, signify their desire for such increase of indebtedness, and notwithstanding the authorities of such county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district signified their desire for such increase of indebtedness by a resolution instead of by an ordinance as required by the act, its amendments and supplements, and notwithstanding such resolution or ordinance was not advertised as is required by law for the advertisement of ordinances, and notwithstanding that the notice of such election stated the amount of the last assessed valuation of the taxable property in such county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district to have been the assessed valuation of another county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district, which is coextensive therewith, the assessed valuation in both such districts having been based upon the same or substantially the same taxable property and being the same or substantially the same in amount in both of such coextensive districts, and notwithstanding failure to post such election notice as required by law, and notwithstanding that a primary election had intervened between the date of the adoption by the proper authorities of the ordinance or resolution expressing the desire to increase the indebtedness and the date of the special election at which such increase of indebtedness was approved by the electors, and notwithstanding the ordinance expressing such desire of the proper authorities of said county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district for the increase of indebtedness may have been advertised concurrently with the said notice of election though more than thirty days intervened between the date of the first advertisement and publication of said notice of election and the date of said election, and notwithstanding the ballots used at said election were not certified by the county commissioners or did not bear their facsimile signatures or did not contain a brief statement of the purpose of the proposed increase of indebtedness or were not printed on the official ballot after the list of candidates, but were printed on separate ballots at a general election or were printed on a party ballot at a primary election, and notwithstanding that the electors at any such election attached stickers to the ballots cast at said election on which stickers were written or printed preferences for sites of buildings or other matters, and notwithstanding full, complete and proper return of the votes was not made to the proper court or counted by the court, and notwithstanding that a record showing the results was not made and certified by the clerk of said court to the proper authorities of such district or municipality, and notwithstanding any defect, informality or vagueness of expression in the language of the ordinance or resolution fixing the time for holding such election, and notwithstanding any defect or informality in the manner of holding, mode of conducting or giving notice of such election or in form of the ballot, and notwithstanding any mistake in stating the amount or percentage of existing debt or the percentage of the proposed increase or the amount of the last preceding assessed valuation, and notwithstanding any patent error of orthography or of numerical statement on any or all of the ballots, and notwithstanding any discrepancy between the amount of the proposed increase of indebtedness as contained in the published and posted advertisements and in the printed ballots.

All of the bonds, securities and obligations issued or to be issued in pursuance of every such election are hereby made valid and binding obligations of every such county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district: Provided, That all the other requirements of law concerning such procedure, election and issue of bonds have been complied with: And provided further, That the provisions of this act shall not apply in any instance where the validity of such election or any issue of bonds or other security based thereon has been made the subject of litigation in any court of the Commonwealth prior to the approval of this act, nor to any litigation in any court of this Commonwealth instituted prior to the passage of this act and still pending and undetermined.

53 P.S. § 5592

1941, Aug. 1, P.L. 650, § 1.