Description: The McNees Public Sector Blog is a legal blog dedicated to providing readers with the latest updates, analysis, and commentary on the unique legal issues that face governmental entities.
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently issued a long-awaited opinion in a prevailing wage appeal brought by Ursinus College, captioned at Ursinus College v. Prevailing Wage Appeals Board , No. 828 C.D. 2021 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2022). The College was appealing a decision by the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Appeals Board (the “Board”) finding that the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act (the “Act”) applied to a construction project financed by the College (the “Project”), using municipal bonds issued by the Mo
In an opinion and order issued August 4, 2022, the Commonwealth Court reversed the Board’s decision that the Act applied to the Project. In ruling for the College in its appeal, the court noted that the Project was financed through Bonds issued by the Authority for the benefit of the College. While the Authority issued the Bonds to finance the Project, it did not have any liability for repayment of the debt; the repayment obligation rested solely with the College. As explained in more detail in the amicus b
In its Opinion, the court held that the funding structure underpinning the Project did not give rise to a finding of “public work,” and as a result, the relevant provision of the Act did not apply to the Project. The court concluded that the structure of the underlying financing—which included a trust indenture, loan agreement, bond purchase agreement, and closing statement—was such that “the Project was not paid for ‘out of the funds’ of the Authority as a public body, which is what the plain language of S