City Code, ExplainedBetaPardon our dust while we build this out — expect some changes along the way.

This chapter adopts and establishes the Code of the City of Pottsville itself — how the codified ordinances were approved, how they relate to prior city legislation, and the general rules used to interpret, define terms in, and enforce the Code as a whole. It also sets the City's consolidated fee schedule covering taxes, permits, licenses, parking, recreation, sewage systems, and fire/rescue services.

Who this affects

Residents, businesses, and property owners across the City are affected any time they interact with a city permit, license, tax, fee, or any ordinance whose penalty isn't separately specified — this chapter supplies the fallback definitions, general penalty, and fee amounts that apply City-wide.

Key rules

• The Code was adopted as a single ordinance on 12-12-1994, consolidating Chapters 1 through 220 plus an Appendix.
• Provisions substantively the same as prior ordinances continue in force from their original adoption date, not as new enactments.
• General and permanent ordinances not included in the Code were repealed as of the Code's effective date, December 12, 1994, except as specifically saved from repeal.
• A list of ordinance types is expressly saved from repeal, including budgets and tax rates, franchises and contracts, annexations, sidewalk/curb construction requirements, street and right-of-way actions, water/sewer district ordinances, public improvements, employee salaries and pensions, and Zoning Map and Traffic Control Map amendments.
• Where the Code imposes greater restrictions than another statute or regulation, the Code controls; where the other law is more restrictive, it controls.
• Chapter/section titles and editor's notes are for convenience only and are not part of the actual legislation.
• Three certified copies of the Code must be filed with the City Clerk and made available for public examination.
• Where no specific penalty is stated for a violation of the Code or a city ordinance, the general penalty in § 1-17 applies, and each day a violation continues is a separate offense.
• Definitions in § 1-16 (e.g., "PERSON," "STREET," "PREMISES," "OWNER") and word-usage rules (plural includes singular, masculine includes feminine, etc.) govern how the whole Code is read unless a specific provision says otherwise.
• A detailed, itemized fee schedule (§ 1-18) sets current dollar amounts for real estate and other taxes, business licenses, permits (street opening, building, zoning, subdivision, sewage systems), parking fines, recreation/pool admission, police and fire document/report fees, fire and rescue equipment/apparatus charges, and attorney fees on delinquent accounts.

Penalties

Tampering with or altering the Code (§ 1-13) is punishable by a fine not exceeding $600 plus costs of prosecution, or, if unpaid, imprisonment not exceeding 90 days. The general penalty for any other Code or ordinance violation with no specific penalty stated (§ 1-17) is a fine of not more than $1,000 and, in default of payment, imprisonment of not more than 90 days, with each day's continued violation constituting a separate offense.

Notable and archaic details

• The fee schedule mixes clearly outdated or superseded figures together in one list — for example, "2023 Season Ticket Rates" for the pool appear alongside amendments dated as recently as 2-9-2026, suggesting some listed fees may no longer be current.
• Fire and rescue billing includes a detailed itemized rate card, down to $2.50 per oil absorbent sheet and $0.25 per foot of fire line tape.
• The Code addresses "skill games" machines specifically, taxing them at $1,000 per machine versus $150 per machine for other mechanical devices.