NOTICES

DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR AND INDUSTRY

Consumer Price Index Adjustment of Base Amounts on Bids Effective January 1, 2021

[50 Pa.B. 7112]
[Saturday, December 12, 2020]

 Each year the Department of Labor and Industry (Department) is required by the following statutes to publish changes to the base amounts triggering the requirement for public bids, telephonic bids or separate bids, or both, for certain contracts. The Department is required to announce the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): All Items for the United States City Average for the 12-month period ending September 30 of each year. The Department utilizes the most current nonseasonally adjusted series, as published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which at present uses 1982—1984 as the index base period (set equal to 100). The percentage change for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2020, is 1.4%.

 The change to the base rate is determined as follows:

 1) Calculate the percentage change in CPI-U (I) from September 2019 to September 2020. This is derived as I = (CPI₂₀ − CPI₁₉)/CPI₁₉, where the subscripts refer to September 2020 and 2019 values of CPI-U. As reported by the BLS these values are (260.280 − 256.759)/256.759 = +3.521/256.759 = +1.3713%, which when rounded to 1 decimal place = 1.4%. (This was also reported as 1.4% in Table A of the BLS News release on the Consumer Price Index Summary for September 2020).

 2) The legislation puts a floor of 0 and a cap of 3% on the percentage change to be utilized in the calculations (technically these restrictions are on the Preliminary Adjusted Base (PAB), defined in step 4, however this is mathematically equivalent). The truncated value of the percentage change to be used in the adjustment formula is denoted as PC, resulting in:

 a) PC = I, for 0 ≤ I ≤3%,

 b) PC = 0, for I<0 and

 c) PC =3%, for I>3%.

 3) The base value (either original for new legislation or the prior year's PAB) is designated as B and the product of B and PC (determined previously) is P. (There are different values of the base depending on the entity and the type of bid, so technically B could be designated with 2 subscripts. For illustration purposes, the subscripts are omitted). Then P = B*PC. A common value for the base amount in 2020 for a public bid is $20,959.79. (The other two prior PABs, which are this year's bases for a variety of bid types, were $11,329.62 and $28,324.04). For example, using B = $20,959.79, results in P = $20,959.79*1.4% = $293.44.

 4) Then the Preliminary Adjusted Base, PAB = P + B, which reduces to $293.44 + $20,959.79 = $21,253.23.

 5) The Final Adjusted Base Amount, FAA, (which is used as the limit for the next year that is 2021) is the PAB rounded to the nearest 100. Therefore, the FAA = $21,300.00.

	Final Adjusted Base Amount for Use in 2021
Entity and Legislation	Public Bid	Written/ Telephonic Bid	Separate Bids	Concessions
The County Code (16 P.S. §§ 1801—1803 and 2317)	$21,300	$11,500	$21,300
Second Class County Code (16 P.S. §§ 3112, 5001, 5511-A and 5517)	$21,300	$11,500	$21,300
Public School Code (24 P.S. §§ 1-120, 7-751 and 8-807.1)	$21,300	$11,500	$21,300
Public School Code, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology (24 P.S. § 19-1913.1-B)	$21,300
Public School Code, State System of Higher Education (24 P.S. §§ 20-2003-A.1 and 20-2010-A)	$21,300
Prevention and Control of Floods, Flood Control Districts (32 P.S. §§ 662 and 662.1)	$21,300
Housing Authorities (35 P.S. § 1551)	$21,300	$11,500
Intergovernmental Cooperation (53 Pa.C.S. §§ 2308, 2311 and 2312)	$21,300	$11,500
General Municipal Law, Flood Control (53 P.S. § 2863)	$21,300	$11,500
Political Subdivisions Joint Purchases Law (53 P.S. § 5432)	$21,300	$11,500
Parking Authorities (53 Pa.C.S. § 5511)	$28,700	$11,500
Municipal Authorities (53 Pa.C.S. § 5614)	$21,300	$11,500
Public Auditorium Authorities Law (53 P.S. § 23851)	$21,300	$11,500
Third Class City Code (11 Pa.C.S. §§ 11901.1, 11901.2, 11901.4, 11902, 11903.1 and 11909)	$21,300		$21,300
Boroughs and Incorporated Towns (8 Pa.C.S. §§ 1402, 1403 and 1405)	$21,300	$11,500	$21,300
Incorporated Towns (53 P.S. §§ 53202, 53202.1, 53203, 53203.1 and 53205)	$21,300	$11,500	$21,300
First Class Township Code (53 P.S. §§ 56802, 56803 and 56805)	$21,300	$11,500	$21,300
Second Class Township Code (53 P.S. §§ 68102 and 68107)	$21,300	$11,500	$21,300
Economic Development Financing Law (73 P.S. § 382)	$21,300	$11,500
Metropolitan Transportation Authorities (74 Pa.C.S. § 1750)	$28,700			$21,300

W. GERARD OLEKSIAK, 
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 20-1754. Filed for public inspection December 11, 2020, 9:00 a.m.]

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