Should Towns Merge?

In Pennsylvania, municipalities—boroughs, cities, towns, and townships—may merge or consolidate; but unless some governmental and legal process does the combining, they can't be made to combine with one another. If municipalities do merge, they may do so in one of these key ways:

VOLUNTARY CONSOLIDATION (MUTUAL AGREEMENT)

In Pennsylvania, if both municipalities agree, they can merge. The merger process starts with both towns' councils reaching an agreement, then it goes to a referendum where the citizens of both towns get to vote on the agreed-upon terms. If they pass the vote, then it gets sent to the Pennsylvania General Assembly for the final approval.

FORCED CONSOLIDATION (STATE INTERVENTION)

Even though it isn't common, forced consolidation can happen in specific circumstances. The Municipalities Financial Recovery Act (Act 47) permits the state to step in and encourage certain financially struggling municipalities to consolidate as part of a recovery plan. Furthermore, municipalities can ask the state for help under Home Rule Charters when merging with a neighboring municipality would be a better financial decision or would serve their constituents more effectively.

Special circumstances might also lead to forced consolidation. For instance, a court could order two municipalities to merge after it found that one or both of them had been operating in an unconstitutional manner or had otherwise deviated from the standards of a functioning local government.

JUDICIAL INVOLVEMENT

Circumstances where a court requires municipalities to combine are infrequent. When they happen, it's generally because legal conflicts have made service access unequal among the various jurisdictions. A court might also require a merger when it discovers big differences in resources that have to be straightened out.