Jun 14, 2007 By Steve Ferris 3 min read

Uniontown City Council seemed divided Wednesday over a proposal from Southwest Regional Tax Bureau to collect earned income taxes for the city. The city and the Uniontown Area School District each receive .5 percent of the 1 percent earned income tax.

Central Tax Bureau currently collects the tax for the city and Southwest Regional Tax Bureau collects for the school district.

Southwest administrator Ray Paris asked council Wednesday to consider retaining the firm.

Uniontown is only municipality in the school district that does not have Southwest as its tax collector, Paris said.

He said retaining Southwest would make paying the tax and filing tax returns easier for residents because they would deal with only one firm.

The fee for Southwest’s services would be 1.5 percent of the taxes it collects, Paris said, adding that the company charges the same rate to all of the municipalities and school districts it works for.

Solicitor Dan Webster said the city’s contract with Central Tax Bureau expires on Oct. 5, and council would have to terminate the contract by July 5 or it would be automatically renewed.

He said Central charges a 2 percent fee.

Paris said Southwest is a nonprofit agency and someone from every municipality and district it serves has a seat on its board of directors.

Councilman Blair R. Jones Sr. asked Paris about a problem that occurred between the city and Southwest years ago when Southwest was city’s tax collector.

Paris said six years ago Southwest ran into a problem in forwarding tax collections to the city.

Having two tax collectors was the root of the problem, he said.

He said Southwest is in the second year of its second three-year contract with the school district.

Councilman Bob Cerjanec said the school board will have some new members next year and they could decide to hire Central Tax Bureau.

Paris said the city would be able to terminate its contract with Southwest by giving 90 days notice.

Councilmen Gary Crozier and Joseph Giachetti said they support hiring Southwest.

Crozier said having one tax collector would be easier for residents.

Cerjanec said council could vote on the matter at a special meeting that could be held next week.

In other business, council approved numerous appointments to boards other positions.

? Susan Shearer was reappointed as health officer at an annual salary of $10,200.

? James G. Balling, Robert Cahn and Henrietta Beeson Semans were reappointed to the Uniontown Public Library board for three years until June 11, 2010.

? James Campbell, Raymond Gilbert and the Rev. Kenneth Zaccagnini were appointed to the police civil service board. Campbell received a four-year term ending June 13, 2011, Gilbert a three-year term and Zaccagnini a two-year term.

? Harold Bell, David Dzurnak and Betty Saunders were appointed to the fire civil service board. Bell received a four-year term ending June 13, 2011, Dzurnak a three-year term and Saunders a two-year term.

? Paul Bortz Jr., Gina Jones and Charles Curry were appointed to the health department civil service board. Bortz received a four-year term ending June 13, 2011, Jones a three-year term and Curry a two-year term.