[1]
Editor's Note: For additional information
regarding County Authorities, see Charter Art. X.
The following are the current independent authorities
singularly or jointly created by Allegheny County for the performance
of important governmental functions:
A.
Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and
Allegheny County.
B.
Port Authority of Allegheny County.
C.
Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County.
D.
Allegheny County Industrial Development Authority.
E.
Allegheny County Residential Finance Authority.
F.
Authority for Improvements in Municipalities.
G.
Allegheny County Hospital Development Authority.
H.
Allegheny County Higher Education Building Authority.
I.
Allegheny County Housing Authority.
J.
Allegheny County Sanitary Authority.
K.
Allegheny County Airport Authority.
[Amended 10-4-2005 by Ord. No. 42-05]
Unless otherwise provided by law, or the Charter,
the Chief Executive shall make all appointments to the governing board
of all authorities created singularly or jointly by the County. Such
appointments shall expire at the end of the appointee's term unless
otherwise provided by law. All appointments to the governing board
of such authorities made by the Chief Executive shall be made with
the consent of a majority of the seated members of County Council.
In the event that County Council does not confirm or reject an appointment
within 45 days of receipt at the first regularly scheduled meeting
of County Council, the appointment shall be effective as though County
Council confirmed it. Any appointment subject to the term expiration
provisions of this section may be extended by the Chief Executive
for a maximum of 90 days beyond the date on which the appointment
expires, should such extension be necessary for the orderly conduct
of the authority's business.
All singularly or jointly created County Authorities
listed in § 5-203.01 above shall operate in accordance with
the requirements of the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under
which the Authorities were created.
[Amended 10-9-2007 by Ord. No. 36-07]
Notices of Authority meetings and any existing
agendas for those meetings shall be sent to the County Executive and
County Council no less than five business days before the scheduled
date of the meeting. Copies of any minutes of meetings shall be forwarded
to the County Executive and County Council no less than five business
days after they are finalized and in the possession of the Authority.
Copies of financial statements when requested by County Council shall
also be provided within 10 business days of the request. The appropriate
documents are subject to review or audit for the County Controller
when authorized by law
In making appointments to Authorities, the racial,
geographic, age and gender diversity of the County shall be a major
consideration.
[Added 7-13-2004 by Ord. No. 20-04]
All singularly or jointly created County authorities
listed in § 5-203.01 shall be required to obtain a binding
resolution from the County of Allegheny authorizing the request of,
application of, or acceptance of any state or federal funds requiring
a County match from the Operating or Capital Budgets of the County
of Allegheny prior to any such request, application, or acceptance
of funds.
[Added 10-10-2006 by Ord. No. 26-06]
A.
All authorities created singularly or jointly by Allegheny
County enumerated in § 5-203.01 above shall provide advice
to the County Controller at the conclusion of each fiscal year in
the selection of an independent auditor to conduct the authority's
annual financial audit.
(1)
Such independent auditor shall be a member of
the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and must have
a minimum of five years' verifiable experience in performing audits
of government funds for organizations with an annual budget comparable
to or larger than that of the authority for which the auditor is being
selected.
(2)
The independent auditor shall not have been
an employee or agent of the authority for which the auditor is being
selected for a period of at least five years at the time at which
he or she is selected.
(3)
Final selection of the auditor shall be made
by the Allegheny County Controller. The selection of the Controller
need not be approved by the authority to be audited, nor shall the
approval of the Chief Executive, Allegheny County Council, or other
entity be required.
B.
Once selected, the independent auditor shall conduct
a financial audit of the authority, and shall be given free and unfettered
access to the financial records of the authority. Such audit shall
be paid for in its entirety by funds from the operating budget of
the authority.
(1)
The final audited financial statement shall
be consistent with the generally accepted accounting principles prescribed
by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or its successor
or by any other recognized authoritative body selected by the Allegheny
County Controller and consistent with the financial reporting policies
and standards promulgated by the federal government and state government
which apply to government entities.
(2)
The audited financial statement required under Subsection B(1) shall, at a minimum, include:
(a)
Results of the tests of the authority's accounting records and other procedures that are considered necessary to enable the independent auditor to express an opinion as to whether the authority's financial statements are fairly presented, in all material respects, consistent with the accounting principles set forth in Subsection B(1); and
(b)
A schedule of expenses that presents all operating
and capital expenses pertaining to the authority's activities; and
(3)
The Allegheny County Controller shall review the audited financial statement of each authority to determine whether the public funds allocated to the authority have been expended in accordance with the accounting principles set forth in Subsection B(1). The Controller shall have 90 days from the receipt of an audited financial statement to review the audited financial statement and notify the independent auditor and the authority of any material failure to meet the requirements of this subsection.
(a)
An authority that receives notice from the Controller under Subsection B(3) shall have 90 days from the receipt of such notice to submit a corrective action plan to the Controller.
(b)
The Controller shall approve, reject or alter the corrective action plan within 30 days of submission. After the authority receives written notice of approval of the corrective action plan or agrees in writing to the Controller's alterations of the corrective action plan, the plan shall be implemented and binding on the authority. Implementation of the approved or agreed-upon corrective action plan shall be verified by an audit conducted by the Controller no later than the end of the fiscal year following the fiscal year during which the plan is implemented. If no agreed- upon corrective action plan is in place within one year after the date of the Controller's written notice under Subsection B(3), or if the agreed-upon corrective action plan has not been implemented within one year after the date of the Controller's written notice under Subsection B(3), then the Controller shall petition Allegheny County Council to adjust payments to the authority to collect any amounts due based upon the findings contained in the audit report.
(4)
The Allegheny County Controller shall promulgate
final-omitted regulations as necessary to implement this section.
(5)
The Allegheny County Council may withhold funds
appropriated to authorities as necessary to ensure that audit reports
are submitted in the prescribed fashion.
C.
In addition to the annual financial audit of each
authority, additional single audits may be performed in accordance
with the above-listed procedures on an as-needed basis at any time.
The final determination of the need for such an audit shall be made
by the Allegheny County Controller.
(1)
If the governing body of the authority provides
a written statement of agreement with the Controller as to the need
for the single audit, such audit shall be paid for entirely by funds
from the operating budget of the authority.
(2)
If the governing body of the authority does
not provide a written statement of agreement with the Controller's
determination of need, such audit shall be paid for by the Office
of the Controller.
[Added 4-4-2007 by Ord. No. 12-07]
A.
Each County authority recognized in § 5-203.01
of this article shall develop policies to ensure the participation
of minority-owned, women-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises,
as defined by the Department of Minority, Women and Disadvantaged
Business Enterprises, in the contracting process, provided that:
(1)
The policy or policies developed by any authority
must be consistent with the County's policy for participation of minority-owned,
women-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises, and shall not
reduce the participation guidelines contained within the County policy;
and
(2)
The policy or policies drafted by any authority
under the requirement of this section shall be submitted in ordinance
form for the approval of both County Council and the Chief Executive,
and shall not be binding until such approval is given.
B.
The Department of Minority, Women and Disadvantaged
Business Enterprises shall prepare and submit regular reports to both
County Council and the Chief Executive on the progress of each County
authority in ensuring participation by disadvantaged business enterprises.
The first of the reports required under this section shall be submitted
no later than January 1, 2007. Subsequent reports shall be submitted
no less than quarterly thereafter. The County authorities shall provide
the information required to complete this report on a schedule to
be determined by the Department. The reports required under this section
shall include the following:
(1)
A listing of each contract awarded during the
reporting period by each County authority, together with the aggregate
value of the contract, a listing of the portions of the contract awarded
to minority-owned, women-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises,
and the value of each portion of the contract awarded to these business
enterprises.
(2)
For any contract under which the authority's
goals for participation of minority-owned, women-owned, or disadvantaged
business enterprises was not met as of the date of the report, the
report shall specifically address the reasons for the shortfall.
C.
Submissions by all County authorities shall be limited
to the reporting subject matter specifically required by this section.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require that any County
authority provide any information to the Department of Minority, Women
and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises that is not relevant to the
elements of the report required under the terms of this section, nor
to require the submission of any information that exceeds what is
necessary for the completion of the required report.
D.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require
the compliance of any County authority where such compliance would
be contrary to any provision of applicable state or federal law.
[Added 8-21-2007 by Ord. No. 30-07]
A.
Any authority created singularly or jointly by Allegheny
County enumerated in § 5-203.01 above shall maintain at
its offices and post on its Internet site a summary of budgetary information
pertaining to that authority. Such summary shall be made available
to the public at no charge, and shall include, but not be limited
to, the following information:
(1)
A brief description of the service programs
provided to the public by the authority in the current fiscal year;
(2)
A description of goals for all existing service
programs for the next fiscal year;
(3)
A complete listing of the authority's operating
budget line items and the amount of each line item for the current
and previous three fiscal years;
(4)
A complete listing of the authority's capital
budget line items and the amount of each line item for the current
and previous three fiscal years;
(5)
A complete listing of the authority's personnel
costs, specifically delineating total amounts paid for salary, health
care, retirement, and other benefit costs for the current and previous
three fiscal years; and
(6)
Copies of all financial statements prepared
by the authority pursuant to the terms of applicable federal, state
or local law for the previous three fiscal years.
B.
An authority may substitute a copy of its annual report
for some or all of the summaries required under the terms of this
section. In the event that an authority's annual report does not include
one or more of the summaries required under the terms of this section,
the authority shall create a separate document for that summary.
C.
In the event that an authority listed in § 5-203.01
of this Administrative Code does not maintain its own Web site, the
information required under the terms of this section shall be posted
at no cost to the authority on the Allegheny County Web site by the
County Division of Computer Services.
