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An authority can be formed by any county, city, borough, township or school district through
passage of an ordinance by the governing body. In addition, two or more municipalities may join
together to form a joint authority. An authority must have at least five members appointed by the
governing body for a five-year term. In the case of a joint authority, each participating municipality
should be represented.
Intergovernmental Cooperation
Pennsylvania law gives wide latitude to its local government to participate in a variety of
intergovernmental arrangements, provided each participating unit has the legal authority to offer the
service or activity. The types of intergovernmental opportunities or modes of cooperation available
to municipal governments range from service delivery mechanisms such as joint power agreements
and contractual arrangements to formal changes in the local decision making processBcreation of
service districts, transfer of functions or consolidation of local governments.
One form of intergovernmental cooperation which is most popular with local governments is
a council of governments (COGs). They emerged in the 1950s, stimulated in part by various national
and state grants-in-aid programs. The movement also was an alternative to proposals being
advanced for the consolidation or merger of general local governments in urban environments. The
principal participants in this new intergovernmental mechanism were, and are, officials of suburban
municipalities.
COGs are voluntary, municipal associations organized on either a multi-county, a
county-wide, or on an intra-county basis. Action to participate in a COG is taken by the municipal
governing body. Control is vested solely in elected officials of the member municipalities and
includes program agenda setting, revenue generation, membership enlargement, and other
organizational concerns.
Usually voting rights in COGs are municipally basedCone municipality, one vote. For the
most part, there is no weighted voting to reflect differences among the membership as to population
sizes or amounts of dues paid.
The organization of a COG is determined by the participating municipalities. Generally,
there are two policy-making bodies: a general assembly composed of all elected officials of the
member municipalities which meets annually to review COG activities, adopt the budget, and amend
by-laws, and a board of directors, usually composed of one elected official designated by each
municipality. In addition to officers, COGs use both advisory and programmatic committees to
develop, propose, and monitor activities. These committees may be composed of elected officials,
functional specialists, or professional administrators. Day-to-day operations are vested in directors
and staffs.
The scope and nature of a COG is determined by its membership. However, the formation of
a COG cannot expand the legal powers of any of its participating members.
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