The amount Luzerne County pays for tax collection is up for discussion at next week’s county council meeting.
Some council members agreed at a recent work session the matter should be addressed because any compensation changes for the county’s 68 elected tax collectors must be enacted before prospective collectors circulate nomination petitions to appear on the May 16 primary ballot.
Feb. 14 is the first day to circulate and file nomination petitions, and the council has only two more scheduled meetings before then, on Jan. 24 and Feb. 7, according to online calendars.
The current county compensation for elected collectors — $2.50 for each paid bill, nothing for unpaid ones — is granted through an agreement that expires the end of this year.
Hanover Township tax collector Mildred Luba, head of the Luzerne County Tax Collectors Association, has speculated this payment would automatically continue if a new agreement is not approved by council.
But some council members expressed concern the compensation would revert back to the pre-agreement amount — $3.50 for both paid and unpaid county tax bills — if they don’t act now.
The agreement, approved by a council majority in January 2014, halted a switch to in-house tax collection and the collectors’ court appeal over their elimination.
Avoiding a compensation decision would be irresponsible, said council Chairwoman Linda McClosky Houck.
“I think we need to actually not just let something happen to us. We need to take some action to decide what we want it to be,” she said.
McClosky Houck said Monday she will include a discussion about in-house collection at the Jan. 24 council meeting to determine if her colleagues are interested in pursuing that option.
A revived push to end reliance on elected collectors is not expected to gain traction because a council majority rejected a proposed home rule charter amendment ballot question last year that would have asked voters if they want to switch to in-house tax collection.
Councilman Rick Williams has requested discussion next week on implementing uniform compensation for all tax collectors, McClosky Houck said.
Harrisburg-based Public Financial Management’s 2015 financial recovery plan recommended the county save an estimated $165,000 annually by 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 spends $296,650 on compensation for elected collectors annually, the budget says.
The county doesn’t pay outside entities to collect its taxes in the remaining municipalities — Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke, Hazleton, Pittston and Newport Township — because the collection is handled in-house by the treasurer’s office.
Williams publicly said at the recent work session he believes the payment should be $1.50 per collected bill for all. He was among the council members who had supported the conversion to in-house collection.
“It’s no secret. My sensibility is we need to move to centralized tax collection to be in the 21st Century for all types of reasons. Others may have a different viewpoint,” Williams said.
Defenders of elected collectors have maintained property owners appreciate the customer service and local access of the current system.
