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ACOG voices Act 32 concerns

Mauri Rapp Abington Journal Correspondent

Communities in the Abington Council of Governments continue to voice concerns about Pennsylvania Act 32 of 2008, an initiative signed into law in July that reduces the number of earned income tax collectors to one office per county, plus one each for the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

At the April meeting, ACOG hosted Mayfield Mayor Andrew Chelik, who informed the group about how Act 32 will affect them and asked each community to pass a resolution petitioning the Pennsylvania Legislature to amend Act 32 to include a provision that allows each municipality to opt out of the single county earned income tax district.

ACOG member Bill White reported that Chelik had recently told him that 16 municipalities in Lackawanna County have already passed resolutions to ask the commonwealth to amend the act. As of ACOG’s meeting on May 7, four member municipalities have already passed this resolution, including La Plume Township and the boroughs of Clarks Green, Clarks Summit and Dalton.

Among ACOG members’ top concerns was the loss of control their municipalities would have over local government. “I see this as the downfall of small government,” said White, who represents Abington and Scott townships. White said that he felt the law, which would reduce the commonwealth’s number of earned income tax collectors from 560 to 69, could be a slippery slope to a push toward making municipalities merge.

“It’s a push to regionalize,” he said.

White suggested garnering the support of local state representatives as well as tax collection businesses such as Berkheimer Associates and Wilkinson Tax Group, because these businesses would lose money as a result of the new legislation. ACOG members agreed that they merely wanted the option to choose between utilizing the designated county earned income tax collector, which would be decided by a committee from each county but would be hosted by the largest municipality in each county, or using their own tax collector.

“If it’s that efficient, then we’ll opt in,” said ACOG Secretary Lee Jamison. “Just give us the option to opt in.” White reported that a training session called “Act 32: Is Your School District or Municipality Ready?” is scheduled for June 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Inn at Nichols Village.

Also on Thursday, two ACOG communities reported recent vandalism in their municipalities.

Chuck Wrobel of Factoryville and Dennis Macheska of Ransom Township said that graffiti and other criminal activities such as illegal dumping have prompted both communities to install security cameras at key sites, including Factoryville’s maintenance building and a pump station building on Dark Region Road in Ransom Township.

In other business, Herman Johnson of Clarks Summit reported that Clarks Summit’s Junior Council is in the process of collecting donations for a memorial that will be dedicated to military veterans and civilians who have helped out the country during wartime and military conflicts.

The junior council hopes to erect the memorial by May 25 in honor of Memorial Day. Johnson said that the fund raising goal is $6,000 and so far they have raised $2,000. Donations for the memorial can be sent to the Clarks Summit Borough Building at 304 S. State St., Clarks Summit, with checks made payable to “Clarks Summit Borough – Junior Council.”

ACOG will next meet on June 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Clarks Green Borough Building.