(a) Prohibition.--

(1) No member of council may evade section 1402 (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 the amount specified or adjusted under section 1402(a) upon transactions, which transactions should, in the exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence, be conducted as one transaction amounting to more than the amount specified or adjusted under section 1402(a).

(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) Any members of council who vote in violation of this subsection and know that the transaction upon which they vote 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 member of council may have voted in violation of this section, but the purchase or contract on which the member of council voted was not approved by council, this section shall not apply.

(b) Penalty.--Any council member who votes to unlawfully evade the provisions of section 1402 and knows that the transaction upon which the member voted 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).