HARRISBURG - Gov. Tom Corbett signed a bill into law Thursday that keeps Northumberland County a fifth-class county despite its loss in population.
HB 1549, sponsored primarily by state Rep. Kurt Masser (R-107), reduces the lower population threshold for a fifth-class county from 95,000 to 90,000, meaning Northumberland County, with a 2010 population of 94,528, can maintain its fifth-class status and not drop to sixth class.
Had the bill not been passed and signed into the law, that drop in classification would have occurred because Northumberland County's population fell below 95,000 for the second consecutive Census.
Northumberland County officials were worried about negative ramifications resulting from a drop in classification, including a potential loss of grant money. Masser and Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver (R-108), who was among the co-sponsors of the bill, were contacted by county commissioners about the problem shortly after the 2010 Census figures were released.
The law also allows Lawrence County, in the western part of the state, to stay a fifth-class county. Officials there were also worried about the county's dropping to sixth-class status.
HB 1589 passed both chambers of the General Assembly by unanimous vote; the House, 196-0, on June 27, and the Senate, 49-0, on June 30.
In an e-mail message to county commissioners confirming the county classification law, Doug Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, expressed appreciation to Masser, the bill's co-sponsors and Tom Creighton, House Local Government Committee chair, for moving the legislation quickly through the committee.
