By Jaime North
The Daily Item
January 08, 2009 07:23 am
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LEWISBURG — Union County tax collectors say they will seek re-election in the May primary despite the county commissioners’ ploy to discourage anyone from running for the position in a move to save money.
Union County officials say they can collect real estate taxes more quickly and efficiently than a local tax collector can and at a less expensive cost.
County officials claim it can be done for $200,000 less and are willing prove it by going to a countywide collection system.
The concept is being explored by county leaders elsewhere in Pennsylvania, as close as Lycoming County, which currently collects taxes in 11 of its 52 municipalities.
Union County officials took the first step Tuesday when the commissioners lowered the county’s commission rate for local tax collectors to 90 cents per parcel from $1.40 with the hope it will discourage the 14 collectors in the county from seeking re-election in the May primary.
Local tax collectors say they’re not budging.
Linda Moyer, tax collector for Kelly Township, says many collectors have already banded together to campaign in the spring.
“Oh, we’re running,” said Moyer, of West Milton. “There are four of us in this end of the county who are planning to be (in the May primary). If the county wants to do the job themselves, well, it’s not as easy as they think it is.”
Moyer, who helped a taxpayer Wednesday handle a canceled check situation at a local bank, said there are several situations that come up every year that need individual attention. Moyer said she doubts the county could be as personable or accessible as a tax collector.
“I bet they will enjoy getting a call at 9 p.m. from someone saying they want to file for property tax rebates and can’t find their bill,” Moyer said. “That happens more than you think.”
Connie Moore, tax collector for Lewisburg, also pledges to be on the ballot in the spring.
“I will continue to be a thorn in their side,” Moore said. “I’m proud of the job I do. The county isn’t going to scare me away.”
Municipalities would
have no choice
Having no candidates elected in November — to include no write-ins — would open the door for municipalities to appoint the county as its tax collector, the commissioners said.
It’s probably their only option to vacate the publicly elected four-year positions, according to Janel Miller, deputy press secretary with the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
“Tax collectors have been around since Pennsylvania became a state over 200 years ago,” Miller said. “Eliminating this position altogether would require an act of legislation that is, in turn, signed by the governor.”
The Pennsylvania Economy League backs Union County officials’ belief they can significantly cut into the $315,840 the county pays in tax collection by adjusting the local collecting system.
The league documented excessive costs in collecting real estate taxes in a survey two years ago of a 12-county area in central and eastern Pennsylvania, which found that taxing authorities could save nearly $3 million just by lowering the cost of compensation for all tax collectors to the lowest rate reported in the region.
More savings can be made through consolidation or other efficiency-related changes, the survey reported.
Union County wasn’t alone this week in cutting tax compensation rates.
Selinsgrove officials lowered the borough’s rate Monday from 3 percent to 2 1/4 percent with a cap of $11,000 from 2010 to 2013. John Bickhart, borough manager, said the decision was made to adjust with the increasing real estate tax revenue — not to discourage future candidacies.
“We’ve always been aware of the amount of money being spent on (tax collecting),” Bickhart said. “It’s always seemed to be a pretty high number.”
Bickhart said Union County’s move to save money may seem enticing for other counties to follow but may not work in Snyder County, which has a slightly different billing system.
“I don’t favor lowering compensation rates to the point to where nobody will run for office,” Bickhart said. “It may work in situations like Union County has. To me, in Snyder County, that would not be efficient.”
n E-mail comments about this article to jnorth@dailyitem.com.
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