Alan R. Kugler, the consultant hired to coordinate the Shenango Valley Intergovernmental Study Committee, has repeatedly pointed out that although municipalities have merged and consolidated in Pennsylvania before, none of the boundary changes have involved as many as five municipalities.

Farrell, Sharon, Hermitage, Sharpsville and Wheatland, who are studying whether to merge or consolidate, are entering uncharted waters, Kugler has said.

Because of the unique nature of the voyage, discussions have led to a variety of legal questions. Answers to these questions will shape the model city the committee is formulating and the recommendations the committee ultimately makes to the councils and commission of the five towns.

The answers are particularly important to the government structure subcommittee, which is proposing consolidation instead of a merger, and a city government formed by home rule charter.

In a consolidation, the municipalities form a new community. In a merger, one or more municipalities are folded into the government structure of an existing one.

The home rule charter the committee is considering would create a city manager-council form of government. The manager would run day-to-day operations and the 11 council members would adopt legislation.

The city would have a mayor, who would serve as the president of council.

To help find answers to the legal questions, the state put the committee in touch with Thomas G. Wagner, a lawyer in St. Mary's, Pa., who was involved in the consolidation of his hometown.

Here are the synopses of draft responses he has formulated to some of the legal questions. Kugler noted that parts of the answers could change as Wagner conducts more research and gets feedback from the committee.

How would a consolidation affect the school districts that serve the five municipalities?

"School districts are separate and independent legal entities from the municipalities in which they are located," wrote Wagner, who called districts "agencies of the legislature." The Municipal Consolidation and Merger Act and the Public School Code do not address what happens to school districts as the result of a municipal consolidation.

Wagner said he has asked the Department of Education for a response and will forward it when he receives it.

A consolidation would create practical problems for the school districts, Wagner added. A consolidation would not only erase the boundaries between municipalities, but also between districts.

"Unless the election districts within the consolidated municipality are kept consistent with the school district boundaries, it will be difficult and confusing to conduct an election for school board members, since some voters will be voting for board members in one district and other voters in the same election district would be voting for school directors in a different district," he said.

Because of the overlap in local enabling taxes -- municipalities and school districts split the earned income, occupational privilege and per capita taxes -- the consolidated municipality could receive differing amounts of those taxes from its residents, depending on whether the school districts levy the same rates and types of taxes.

What is the process for

multiple municipalities to formulate a home rule charter for a vote on municipal

consolidation?

The consolidation and merger act says only that the municipalities must enter into a joint agreement to consolidate, but leaves to the municipalities the choice of formulating and approving the charter before or after the agreement is reached.

The joint agreement addresses all major issues involved in a consolidation. The charter establishes the government structure.

Voters could be asked if they want to consolidate their towns before a charter is hammered out.

Wagner said the question still is open on whether a second referendum would have to be taken on the charter if voters are initially only asked their thoughts on consolidation and a charter has not been proposed.

Must the name of the new municipality be included in the consolidation referendum question?

No, but it must be established in the joint agreement between municipalities.

Could the home rule charter call for one-time election

districts with unequal proportions based on the boundaries of some or all of the former municipalities?

The U.S. Supreme Court has said that the principal of "one person, one vote" must be applied to all elections, including municipal governments. The court has backed away from a strict enforcement of the rule by realizing that mathematical exactitude cannot be achieved, and that there may be legitimate reasons for modest deviations between voting districts. The court also is more tolerant of larger deviations at a municipal level than at the state or federal level, as long as they do not discriminate for or against a particular group.

The large disparity in population between the five municipalities will pose significant mathematical problems in using current municipal boundaries to set election districts. Wheatland has 748 residents, while Sharon and Hermitage each have more than 16,000. Using Wheatland's municipal boundaries will not meet the court's standard, unless the legislative body has 58 representatives, in which case Wheatland would have one member. If Wheatland would agree to be merged with another community for the purpose of setting election districts, most of the current boundaries could be used.

Stating in a home rule charter that the existing councils and commission appoint members to an interim government also would have to meet the one person, one vote standard.

If a joint agreement is negotiated among the municipalities, but one or more of the governing bodies refuse to sign it, could the residents of the towns that refuse to sign override their councils by ballot initiative?

Yes, as long as the initiative petition is consistent with the consolidation referendum. However, if the committee proposes a government formed by home rule charter, the initiative process cannot be used in municipalities whose governing bodies refuse to sign the joint agreement. The law governing initiatives "makes no provision for the formulation and adoption of a home rule charter," Wagner said.

Could a joint agreement be set up in such a way that consolidation would take

effect only in those municipalities whose voters approve it, and the entire consolidation effort would not be sunk if a community balks?

No. The law states: "If in any one of the municipalities in which the referendum is held a majority vote in favor of consolidation or merger does not result, the referendum shall fail and consolidation or merger shall not take place."

Can a home rule charter set special districts with differing tax levels?

Taxes can be assessed at different levels within the taxing bodies' jurisdiction if the rationale is reasonable, just and nonarbitrary, such as if there is a different type of governmental activity in a district with a different tax level, or service offered. "Establishing tax districts merely for the purpose of maintaining the tax rates which existed in the separate municipalities prior to consolidation would probably be a clear violation of the uniformity clause" of the state constitution, Wagner said.

Can a home rule charter set special districts with differing service levels?

State law has allowed the creation of districts to provide services such as sanitary sewer, water and street lights, and the Second Class Township Code allows the creation of police protection districts. The resident funding in these districts is not considered a tax and the municipality must develop a system for collecting the assessments.

Would consolidation affect the post offices?

The U.S. Postal Service is a quasi-governmental agency created by the federal government and the designation of delivery areas is not directly governed by state or municipal action. "Presumably, when the consolidated municipalities receive a common name, the names of the post offices will also change, though the zip codes may remain the same," Wagner said.

The committee's Web site is at www.mcrpc.com/svisc/

index.htm

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at

jpinchot@sharon-herald.com