(a) General rule.-- (1) No commissioner shall evade the provisions of section 5102 (relating to regulation of contracts) as to advertising for bids by purchasing or contracting for services and personal properties piecemeal for the purpose of obtaining prices under $18,500, subject to adjustment under section 5102(d), upon transactions, which transactions should, in the exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence, be conducted as one transaction amounting to more than $18,500, subject to adjustment under section 5102(d). (2) This subsection is intended to make unlawful the evading of advertising requirements by making a series of purchases or contracts, each for less than the advertising requirement price, or by making several simultaneous purchases or contracts, each below the price, when in either case, the transactions involved should have been made as one transaction for one price. (3) A commissioner who votes in violation of this subsection and knows that the transaction upon which the commissioner votes is or should be a part of a larger transaction and is being divided in order to evade the requirements as to advertising for bids, shall be jointly and severally subject to a surcharge for 10% of the full amount of the contract or purchase. (4) If it appears that a commissioner may have voted in violation of this section, but the purchase or contract on which the commissioner voted was not approved by the board of commissioners, this section shall not apply. (b) Violation and penalty.-- A commissioner who votes to unlawfully evade the provisions of section 5102 and who knows that the transaction upon which the commissioner votes is or should be a part of a larger transaction and is being divided in order to evade the requirements as to advertising for bids commits a misdemeanor of the third degree for each contract entered into as a direct result of that vote. The penalty under this subsection shall be in addition to a surcharge that may be assessed under subsection (a).
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