Honorable Samuel S. Lewis,
AGO 5
Opinion No. 5
Pennsylvania Attorney General Opinions
Opinions Of The Attorney General
March 6, 1931
Highways—Construction and Improvement—Allocation of Moneys set Aside for—Motor License Fund—Contracts—Act of May 1, 1929 P. L. 1052.
Any part of the $23,500,000.00 set apart by the Act of May 1, 1929, P. L. 1052, which is not expended or encumbered by contract prior to June 1, 1931, will be available for the purposes for which the Motor License Fund is appropriated, without any obligation on the part of the Highway Department to allocate It as provided in the first four sections of the Act.
Honorable Samuel S. Lewis,
Secretary of Highways,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Sir: We have your request to be advised whether under the Act of May 1, 1929, P. L. 1052, any part of the $23,500,000.00 set apart for allocation among the counties for construction and improvement of State highways and bridges will lapse unless encumbered by contract prior to June 1, 1931. The Act to which you refer is the so-called " Wheeler-Flynn Act" which provides in Section 1 that out of such sum as shall hereafter be specified by the Legislature for the purpose your Department shall apportion money to the several counties for highway construction work "in the ratio that the unimproved mileage of State highways in any county bears to the total unimproved mileage of State highways in the Commonwealth." This same Section established a maximum allocation for any county of $600,000.00 and a minimum of $200,000.00, but provided for reallocations from time to time to use up any surpluses accruing because of the fixing of a maximum of $600,000.00 to any county.
After establishing the basis for apportioning the money among the counties, Section 1 provided that "the moneys thus available for expenditure in any county shall be expended by the Department of Highways for State highway and bridge construction and improvement in boroughs, towns and townships, on any State highway * * *. ' Section 4 provided that "no portion of the moneys specifically required in any fiscal biennium to be used for the construction and improvement of State highways and bridges under the provisions of this Act shall be used for reconstruction, resurfacing, widening or maintenance * * * but shall be devoted entirely to new construction."
Section 5 set apart $23,500,000.00 of moneys in the Motor...
