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Commissioners pressed to change tax-collection commission rate

By Paul Sunyak 4 min read

Citizen James Killinger urged the Fayette County commissioners to take a “hard look” at the comparatively high 3.5 percent commission rate paid to county tax collectors, telling them at Thursday’s meeting that a more “suitable fee schedule” should be developed. Killinger serves as chairman of the county’s independent Tax Assessment Appeals Board and also is a member of Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls’ citizen advisory board that has provided input on other key issues facing county government.

Killinger said that he agrees with Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh that the 3.5 percent rate is too high and needs to be changed to something more cost effective. Cavanagh is the only commissioner who’s expressed a willingness to change the rate right now, even though it wouldn’t go into effect until 2006 under state law.

“I think what we need to do is take a hard look at what we’re paying them,” said Killinger of the elected tax collectors.

Nehls, who generally supports the concept of reform, challenged Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites to tackle the issue in the next administration, under the assumption that Vicites will win re-election to a third term in November.

“I would challenge you as a victor in November that your administration will address that problem,” said Nehls, who added that if he sides with Cavanagh to make a change at this time, it might look bad to some since both lost in the primary election.

Vicites agreed that the issue needs an “in-depth” look, but reiterated his longstanding position that it’s imperative for him as an elected official to study all options. Vicites said the myriad of possibilities available to the commissioners makes him reluctant to make a hasty decision, especially since there’s no need to hurry.

“There’s so many variations … a sliding scale, a flat rate, a percentage, some of them do it in-house (through the county treasurer),” said Vicites, who took Nehls up on his offer to forward some information from the Pennsylvania Economy League.

Cavanagh, who joked that Nehls had perhaps found a new job as an advisor on this topic, said the issue was fairly simple and was being unnecessarily complicated by Vicites and county solicitor Joseph E. Ferens Jr., who invoked the fact that state legislation could be needed for the county treasurer to begin accepting county taxes.

“The county commissioners control what the percentage is,” said Cavanagh, who added that they could reduce it immediately without any legislation. “The only thing I say is, if we’re one of the poorest counties we shouldn’t be paying one of the highest rates.”

Replying to a question from citizen Geraldine T. “Jerry” Mazza, who asked why people just couldn’t mail their tax payments to the county treasurer, Ferens said that such an option might require legislative approval. Vicites said such legislation would need to mirror the Tioga Act, which specified that certain counties could use the treasurer’s office and bypass tax collectors completely.

Said Ferens, “That is just one option that’s out there.”

But Cavanagh was unswayed by the legal layering, noting that the commissioners are fully empowered to make a change in the percentage, or to switch to another method such as flat fee, if they want.

“This is just one of the dinosaur things in government that just drags on and drags on,” said Cavanagh, who made a clarion call for public support for his position. “My question to the citizens is, ‘Should one of the poorest counties pay one of the highest rates?’ And my answer is, ‘No way, Jose.'”

Fayette’s elected tax collectors currently receive a 3.5 percent commission on all county taxes they collect, a method that costs roughly $255,776 per year after factoring in $18,176 worth of Social Security contributions for that group.

In Washington and Greene counties, county real estate taxes are collected by the county treasurer’s office, eliminating the need to use tax collectors. In Somerset County, tax collectors are paid a flat $2.25 fee on each tax bill they collect, regardless of size of that payment.

And Westmoreland County uses a diminishing sliding scale, paying a 1.2 percent commission to tax collectors on the first $400,000 they collect down to a 0.53 percent commission after collections hit $800,000.

Cavanagh on Tuesday used the results of a survey conducted by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania to bolster his argument. That survey showed Fayette to be in what Cavanagh called the “upper echelon” of counties when it comes to how much it pays tax collectors.

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