Section 309-4.1 - Assessment upon public utilities, disposition, appropriation and disbursement of such assessments (Adm. Code Section 904-A.1)(a) Before November 1, 1983 for fiscal year 1984-1985 and before November 1 of each year hereafter, the Office of Consumer Advocate shall estimate the total expenditures for the Office of Consumer Advocate and submit the estimate to the Governor in accordance with section 610 of the act. At the same time the Consumer Advocate submits his estimate to the Governor, the Consumer Advocate shall also submit that estimate to the General Assembly. Such estimate shall not exceed five one hundredths of one per centum (.05%) of the total gross intrastate operating revenues of all public utilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for the preceding calendar year. The Consumer Advocate or his designated representatives shall be afforded an opportunity to appear before the Governor and the Senate and House Appropriations Committees regarding his estimate. If the General Assembly fails to approve the Consumer Advocate's budget for the purposes of this section by March 30, the Public Utility Commission shall assess public utilities on the basis of the last approved allocation. At such time as the General Assembly approves the proposed budget, the Consumer Advocate and the commission shall make an adjustment in the assessments to reflect the approved budget. The Office of Consumer Advocate shall subtract from the budget finally approved by the General Assembly any balance of the appropriation to be carried over into such fiscal year from the preceding one. The remainder so determined shall constitute the total assessment, and shall be allocated to, and paid by, public utilities in the manner hereafter prescribed.(b) For the fiscal year 1977-1978, the allocation shall be made as described in subsection (c) but for each fiscal year thereafter the allocation shall be made as follows: (1) The Office of Consumer Advocate shall determine for the preceding calendar year the amount of its expenditures directly attributable, or in its judgement properly allocable, to its activities in connection with each group of utilities furnishing the same kind of service and debit the amount so determined to such group.(2) The Office of Consumer Advocate shall then allocate the total assessment prescribed by subsection (a) to each group in the proportion which the sum of the debits made to it bears to the sum of the debits made to all groups. The Office of Consumer Advocate shall transmit to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission the result of the aforesaid allocation.(c) The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission shall thereafter complete the assessment procedure and collect the assessments as follows: each public utility within a group shall then be assessed for and shall pay to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission such proportion of the amount allocated to its group as the gross intrastate operating revenues of the public utility for the preceding calendar year bear to the total gross intrastate operating revenues of its group for that year, but for the fiscal year 1977-1978 every public utility shall be assessed for and shall pay to the commission such proportion of the total assessment as the gross intrastate operating revenues of the public utility for the preceding calendar year bear to the total gross intrastate operating revenues of all public utilities that are assessed. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission shall give notice by registered or certified mail to each public utility of the amount lawfully charged against it under the provisions of this section, which amount shall be paid by the public utility within thirty (30) days of receipt of such notice, unless the commission specifies on the notices sent to all public utilities an installment plan of payment, in which case each public utility shall pay each installment on or before the date specified therefor by the commission. Within fifteen (15) days after receipt of such notice, the public utility against which such assessment has been made may file with the commission objections setting out in detail the grounds upon which the objector regards such assessment to be excessive, erroneous, unlawful or invalid. The commission, after notice to the objector, shall hold a hearing upon such objections. After such hearing, the commission shall record upon its minutes its findings on the objections and shall transmit to the objector, by registered or certified mail, notice of the amount, if any, charged against it in accordance with such findings, which amount, or any installment thereof, then due shall be paid by the objector within ten (10) days after receipt of notice of the findings of the commission with respect to such objections. If any payment prescribed by this subsection is not made as aforesaid, the commission may suspend or revoke certificates of public convenience, certify automobile registrations to the Secretary of Transportation for suspension or revocation or, through the Department of Justice, may institute an appropriate action at law for the amount lawfully assessed, together with any additional cost incurred by the commission or the Department of Justice by virtue of such failure to pay.(d) No suit or proceeding shall be maintained in any court for the purpose of restraining or in anywise delaying the collection or payment of any assessment made under subsections (a), (b) and (c), but every public utility against which an assessment is made shall pay the same as provided in subsection (c). Any public utility making any such payment may, at any time within two (2) years from the date of payment, sue the Commonwealth in an action at law to recover the amount paid, or any part thereof, upon the ground that the assessment was excessive, erroneous, unlawful, or invalid, in whole or in part, provided objections, as hereinbefore provided, were filed with the commission, and payment of the assessment was made under protest either as to all or part thereof. In any action for recovery of any payments made under this section, the claimant shall be entitled to raise every relevant issue of law, but the findings of fact made by the commission, pursuant to this section, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. Any records, books, data, documents, and memoranda relating to the expenses of the Office of Consumer Advocate shall be admissible in evidence in any court and shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of their contents. If it is finally determined in any such action that all or any part of the assessment for which payment was made under protest was excessive, erroneous, unlawful, or invalid, the Office of Consumer Advocate shall make a refund to the claimant out of the appropriation specified herein as directed by the court.(e) The procedure in this section providing for the determination of the lawfulness of assessments and the recovery back of payments made pursuant to such assessments shall be exclusive of all other remedies and procedures.(f) It is the intent and purpose of this section that each public utility shall advance to the Office of Consumer Advocate its reasonable share of the cost of administering this act. The Office of Consumer Advocate shall keep records of the costs incurred in connection with the administration and enforcement of this act or any other act. The Office of Consumer Advocate and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission shall also keep a record of the manner in which it shall have computed the amount assessed against every public utility. Such records shall be open to inspection by all interested parties. The determination of such costs and assessments by the Office of Consumer Advocate and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, and the records and data upon which the same are made, shall be considered prima facie correct. In any proceeding instituted to challenge the reasonableness or correctness of any assessment under this section, the party challenging the same shall have the burden of proof.(g) All assessments received, collected, or recovered under this act shall be paid by the commission into the General Fund of the State Treasury through the Department of Revenue.(h) All such assessments, allocated to and paid by public utilities shall be held in trust solely for the purpose of defraying the cost of the administration and performance of the duties of the Office of Consumer Advocate relating to proceedings before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the corresponding regulatory agencies of the United States, related judicial proceedings, and other such matters within the jurisdiction of the Office of Consumer Advocate, and shall be earmarked for the use of, and annually appropriated to, the Office of Consumer Advocate for disbursement solely for that purpose.(i) All requisitions upon such appropriation shall be signed by the Consumer Advocate or such deputies as he may designate in writing to the State Treasurer and shall be presented to the State Treasurer and dealt with by him and the Treasury Department in the manner prescribed by the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L. 343, No. 176), known as "The Fiscal Code." 1929, April 9, P.L. 177, art. IX-A, § 904-A.1, added 1977, June 21, P.L. 19, No. 15, § 1. Amended 1978, July 1, P.L. 581, No. 107, § 1, retroactive effective 7/1/1977; 1983, July 20, P.L. 48, No. 25, §§ 2, 3, imd. effective.