Local Government Commission
of the
Pennsylvania General Assembly
Pennsylvania Legislator's Municipal Deskbook
SEVENTH EDITION (2025)
Complete Deskbook
Article-by-Article
Introduction
Basics
- Local Government Entities in Pennsylvania
- Dillon's Rule - State Primacy Over Local Governments
- Home Rule - An Incursion on State Supremacy
- Preemption of Municipal Regulation by the Commonwealth
- Municipalities - How They Change . . . Boundaries, Classification or Forms of Government
- Intergovernmental Cooperation
- Municipal Authorities
- Municipal Statistics
Citizens' Rights
- Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law
- The Pennsylvania Sunshine Act
- Procedural Due Process
- Substantive Due Process
- Equal Protection
Governance
- Quorum: Official Action - Abstention
- Can a Municipal Governing Body Enter Into a Contract That Will Bind Future Governing Bodies?
- Municipal Procurement
- Sale of Municipal Property
- Selected Municipal Employment Issues
- Authority Over Borough Police: Mayor vs. Council
- Ethics and Conflicts of Interest
- Surcharge: Accountability of Officials for Misuse of Public Funds
- Removal From Office
- Governmental Immunity & Municipal Liability
- Discretionary vs. Ministerial Acts and the Action of Mandamus
- Selected Examples of Actions Against Municipalities
Public Health, Welfare and Safety
- What is the "Police Power"?
- Public Nuisances
- Some Examples of Municipal Code Sections Authorizing the Regulation or Abatement of Nuisances
- Juvenile Curfews
- Regulation of Animals
Land Use
- Public Use of Municipal Recreational Land
- Pennsylvania Statutory and Regulatory Measures to Protect Agricultural Land and Open Space
- Exclusionary Zoning and the Fair Share Doctrine
- Road Law Basics
- Municipal Eminent Domain
- Municipal Regulation of Adult-Oriented Businesses
Private Property Issues
- Limbs From My Neighbor's Tree Overhang My Property . . . What can I do?
- Landlocked Property - Easements by Implication, Necessity, and Prescription; and the Creation of Private Roads
- Title by Adverse Possession & Easement by Prescription
Taxation and Finance
- Real Estate Assessment Process in Pennsylvania . . . An Overview
- Homestead Exclusion
- Clean and Green
- Pennsylvania Charitable Exemptions
- Taxpayer Relief Act
- Local Services Tax
- Eliminating Occupation Taxes
- Earned Income Taxes
- Local Elected Tax Collectors . . . An Overview
- Municipal Investments
- Municipal Fiscal Distress and Recovery