TAMAQUA - The borough council is urging the Pennsylvania Legislature to modernize the state and local prevailing wage law.
Act 442 of 1961 requires workers on public construction jobs costing more than $25,000 to be paid a wage set by the state Department of Labor and Industry. Those wages generally are 20 percent to 40 percent higher than local market labor rates.
Tamaqua officials are encouraging lawmakers to pass House Bill 1329, which would change the prevailing wage threshold from $25,000 to $185,000 to stay in line with the Consumer Price Index inflation indicators and adjust it annually.
The council's resolution also supports another bill, House Bill 1685, that would require the Department of Labor and Industry to develop a list of worker classifications, much like the one provided for in federal law, and place the information on a publicly accessible website.
Borough council President Micah Gursky said municipalities that are forced to pay higher wages set by the state simply pass the cost on to taxpayers.
And local contractors often choose not to bid on prevailing wage projects due to administrative and financial burdens, he said.
Gursky said the Legislature hasn't amended the act since 1963 to reflect changes, including inflation, over the past 50 years. A prevailing wage of $25,000 in 1963 equaled $183,203 in 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index inflation calculator.
Tamaqua's resolution states current state regulations often favor collective bargaining agreements and union wages, which unnecessarily sends rates higher. It also cites the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs as an advocate for adopting common-sense reforms to the Prevailing Wage Act.
In other business, the borough will pay $100,290.40 this year as its Minimum Municipal Obligation for police and non-uniformed pensions.
Tamaqua has the money in its budget to meet the obligation. The state will kick in aid of $182,381.60 toward the total pension bill of $282,672.