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A Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, declaring Council's intention to eliminate funding to the Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania within the next seven-year period and urging the General Assembly to carry-out its constitutionally-mandated and court-ordered responsibility to fund the Fifth Judicial District, as mandated by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
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WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in County of Allegheny v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 517 PA. 65 (1987) declared that the Pennsylvania statutory scheme which requires counties to fund Pennsylvania's unified judicial system was unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, despite the fact that the Supreme Court afforded the Pennsylvania General Assembly time to enact appropriate funding legislation in order to comply with the Court's decision, the General Assembly failed to take any action; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the General Assembly's inaction, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Pennsylvania State Association of County Commissioners v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 545 PA. 324 (1996), ordered the General Assembly to “enact a funding scheme for the court system on or before January 1, 1998.”; and
WHEREAS, over a decade has passed since the court-ordered deadline for the General Assembly to fund the unified court system, yet the General Assembly has provided no such funding; and
WHEREAS, since the Supreme Court reaffirmed the unconstitutionality of requiring counties to fund their Courts of Common Pleas in 1996, Allegheny County has expended roughly $488.2 million of the County's revenues in funding the Court of Common Pleas, and in 2008 alone, the Court of Common Pleas received $54.8 million in revenue derived directly from County tax revenues; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of Council to reduce the tax burden of the County's residents; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the General Assembly's constitutionally-mandated and court-ordered...
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