The compensation for Luzerne County’s 68 elected tax collectors will be discussed at the county council’s Jan. 10 work session, said council Chairwoman Linda McClosky Houck.
McClosky Houck said she wants to determine if her colleagues are interested in altering the pay because any changes must be implemented before candidates circulate petitions in February to run for tax collector in the May 16 primary.
A council majority had voted in January 2014 to cancel a switch to in-house tax collection because the elected collectors accepted a pay reduction and dropped a court appeal over their elimination.
The collectors had received $3.50 for both paid and unpaid county tax bills. Under the new agreement, they received $2 for each paid county tax bill and nothing for unpaid bills in 2014 and 2015, with the payment for paid bills increasing to $2.50 in the final two years of their four-year terms.
Council supporters argued the reduced pay allowed the county to keep their services without jeopardizing $240,000 in annual savings from the halted in-house collection.
Harrisburg-based Public Financial Management, the county’s financial recovery consultant, subsequently released a five-year plan in 2015 that recommended reducing the compensation for elected collectors to $1.50 per paid bill, which is the amount the county pays three home rule municipalities — Kingston, Kingston Township and Wilkes-Barre Township — to collect county taxes.
The county treasurer’s office collects county taxes in the five remaining municipalities — Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke, Hazleton, Pittston and Newport Township — and will continue collecting municipal taxes in Newport in 2017, said Treasurer’s Office Manager/Tax Administrator Laura Beers.
Public Financial estimated the county would save $165,000 annually by reducing the elected collectors’ fee to $1.50.
Hanover Township tax collector Mildred Luba, head of the Luzerne County Tax Collectors Association, said a reduction to $1.50 would not be feasible for elected collectors. She reiterated her past argument that many citizens value the customer service provided by collectors within their municipality.
New elected collectors also must comply with additional requirements, Luba said.
According to the state Department of Community and Economic Development, Act 164, which passed in 2014, requires new collectors to complete continuing education classes and name a deputy tax collector to assume tax collection duties in the event they become incapacitated.
Incumbent tax collectors are automatically grandfathered as qualified tax collectors, the state said.
Luba said the elected collectors have not discussed any plans to request pay increases or accept further reductions.
If there is no action, Luba believes the $2.50 payment for elected collectors would remain in effect through 2021 for those who are elected in 2017 and take office in 2018.
The elected collectors appear to have continued majority support from the council. A council majority earlier this year rejected a proposed home rule charter amendment ballot question that would have asked voters if they want to switch to in-house tax collection. Critics have said the current elected collector system is antiquated and less efficient.
