On Tuesday, December 27, 2011, the Lancaster County Commissioners voted unanimously to keep Lancaster County a Third Class County.   According to preexisting law, Lancaster County would have been automatically reclassified as a Second Class A County (populations between 500,000 – 800,000) following the 2010 U.S. Census when its population was certified as 519,445 inhabitants.  However, recent legislation, passed by Governor Corbett and spearheaded by Senator Lloyd Smucker, allows counties to remain a Third Class County until the next U.S. Census in 2020 by passing a Resolution or Ordinance. 

Becoming a Second Class A County would have required the County of Lancaster to begin operating under a new set of laws (Second Class County Code) as opposed to the current County Code. This change would have brought about many changes - several that the Board of Commissioners felt could negatively impact Lancaster County.  Among those changes were:

1)  An anticipated loss of $900,000 in funding for the Countywide Communications of Lancaster County or otherwise known as the 911 Call Center.  This would result from a decrease in the allowable monthly fee charged to owners of hard-wired phones from $1.25 to $1.00. 

2)  Lack of a Convention Center Authority Act for 2A Counties. The Lancaster County Convention Center Authority, which owns the Lancaster County Convention Center, currently operates under the Convention Center Authority Act for Third Class Counties.  There is no similar law for 2A Counties.

3)  Lack of Hotel Tax legislation for 2A Counties.

4)  Collective bargaining implications.

The Lancaster County Board of Commissioners intends to work with the legislature to rectify these problems, and others that may arise, prior to the 2020 U.S. Census.  After the next census, a future Board of Commissioners will have to weigh the change in status again and determine at that time whether a reclassification is appropriate.