Aug 23, 2002 By Paul Sunyak 4 min read

The Fayette County commissioners approved Thursday paying tax assessment appeals board members time-and-half for working evenings and Saturdays, a move that pushes their hourly rate from $16.65 to approximately $25. The county has appointed four auxiliary boards to supplement the work of the main appeals board. Each board has three members, for a total of 15. The county has also appointed some alternates to fill in gaps that may arise as the boards field 10,100 appeals by the Oct. 31 deadline.

Board members are currently paid $100 each for working a full day.

Commissioners Ronald M. Nehls, Vincent A. Vicites and Sean M. Cavanagh voted unanimously to approve the overtime pay rate, which will be doled out for extra hours worked during the week and on Saturday.

Also on Thursday, the commissioners added Cavanagh nominee El Wesley Boots to an auxiliary board, fulfilling the need for a Republican on that particular board. But another opening developed when Cavanagh nominee Riccardo Cicconi pulled out, citing a lack of time to serve.

David Stuart, a Nehls nominee, saw his auxiliary board status switched from regular to alternate at his own request, with Nehls nominee J.B. Thomas getting appointed to Stuart’s vacated regular position. Nehls also got approval for Jess Beatty as a board alternate.

Vicites successfully nominated two alternates, former Everson Mayor Joseph Eckman and former Uniontown Area School District Superintendent James Burns. Cavanagh said that if Burns were interested, he’d consider nominating him for the full-time auxiliary board spot vacated by Cicconi.

In another appeals-related matter, the commissioners unanimously agreed to rent additional office space at Oliver Square Plaza for $1,500 per month from L.C.C. Land Development.

During public comment, the commissioners heard from Al Owens of Uniontown, who enlisted their support for his ambitious plan to post signs around the county mentioning it as the birthplace of some of the nation’s greatest athletes.

“I have fought hard to get some of the recognition for some of the athletes,” said Owens, who said that he’d like to see signs saying, “You are now entering the home of Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack,” or “You are now entering the home of Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis.”

Owens said his plan – already pitched to Uniontown City Council and the Uniontown Area School District – would include honoring county notables in other professions, such as Nobel Prize winner Gen. George C. Marshall.

Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh voiced support for Owens’ concept, saying he thinks honoring county notables in this way is a grand idea.

Also during public comment, Geraldine T. “Jerry” Mazza of Franklin Township asked how much the “latest fiasco” in the county Tax Claim Bureau cost. She was referring to a mistake whereby past-due notices were sent to property owners who in fact owed no such taxes.

Nehls estimated the cost at around $4,000, but Vicites said the mistake was attributable to a computer error during a transition handled by Cole Layer Trumble, the firm that conducted the county’s recent property reassessment project.

Vicites said that CLT was also hired to do the Tax Claim work as a means of consolidating county tax records. He said the firm is being asked to reimburse the county for the computer mistake, since the program failed to delete those names from the list.

Cavanagh said that overall he has received “too many complaints” about Tax Claim and he would consider making wholesale changes because he doesn’t like the way that office is managed. Vicites said he expects “total courtesy” to taxpayers and has stressed that point to “everyone who works in that office.”

Mazza said the commissioners should clean out Tax Claim with a broom and start all over.