Area tax collectors may sue

Thirteen Luzerne County tax collectors met Thursday morning to share concerns about county’s sudden cancellation of pay for uncollected bills and the way their work is being publicly portrayed.

County Controller Walter Griffith stopped a $4-per-bill payment for uncollected bills this week, saying it wasn’t authorized by the county commissioners’ 2001 resolution governing tax collectors’ pay.

Tax collectors will continue to receive $3.50 from the county for each bill that’s paid, Griffith said.

The county’s 69 elected municipal tax collectors are researching the resolution and weighing options, including legal action. The county set a precedent by paying the $4 for uncollected taxes, they say.

Former Hazle Township tax collector Marguerite Benderavich is also pursuing legal action on her own because she’s one of 10 people who didn’t make Griffith’s cancellation cut-off.

Benderavich, who was unable to attend Thursday’s gathering at the Hanover Township municipal building, said the county owes her about $6,000 for processing uncollected 2009 tax bills.

“The county is discriminating against the 10 of us who are not being paid,” Benderavich said. “I think I have some legal ground to stand on. I’m not letting go.”

Like other tax collectors, she was furious that Griffith said the pay for uncollected taxes was unnecessary because they “did nothing but shuffle paper.”

“That was grossly unfair because he has never walked in our shoes,” Benderavich said.

The 13 tax collectors expressed similar complaints, saying Griffith told them at a recent tax collectors dinner that they are underpaid for the services they perform.

“I’m upset that Walter did a complete turnaround and says everything the opposite of what he told us,” said Hunlock Township tax collector Joann Blaine.

Griffith said Thursday that paper-shuffling was a “bad choice of words.” He said he meant that the tax collectors don’t have to do as much work with uncollected bills because they don’t involve the depositing and distribution of money.

“I know the tax collectors provide a service to the taxpayer. They do a lot of work behind the scenes with customer relations. They take a lot of grief,” Griffith said.

County commissioners must decide if there is a legal way to restore the uncollected pay, he said. Commissioners must also decide whether the county will attempt to recoup past payments for uncollected taxes, he said. The three commissioners are scheduled to meet with tax collectors on April 7. The next commissioners meeting is April 14.

“I’m not implying that they don’t deserve the money. Whether or not they deserve it is not my call. All I’m saying is it wasn’t approved,” Griffith said.

The 13 tax collectors said they are not compensated for equipment or utilities required to process bills, and they willingly assist taxpayers with matters that are not mandated, from helping the elderly with property rebate forms to answering questions about government services.

They say they’ve corrected tax bill addresses, straightened out incorrect property records and calculated information about property tax refunds, even though much of that work is technically supposed to be handled by county employees. Tax collectors are considered county employees but receive no benefits.

“They don’t care that we’re making it easy on the people,” said Jenkins Township tax collector Jean Mudlock, noting that she is on her third computer printer because of the volume of tax collection paperwork.

Blaine said she once went to a property owner’s home to collect taxes -- $600 paid in rolled change.

Hanover Township tax collector Mildred Luba said she has collected taxes at supermarkets, a football game and her church.

Jackson Township tax collector Jackie Latosek and others said the county has unfairly created an impression that tax collectors are taking advantage of the county.

“All these things that we do, and they’re complaining about paying what they’re paying us?”

Exeter tax collector Tom Polacheck also noted the county controller’s office has failed to complete mandated audits of tax collectors’ records for several years.

A few tax collectors also said they honored a request to help a controller’s office employee organize his records at night, without pay.

Griffith said he put a stop to that evening work because it was not proper for tax collectors to provide that assistance. Griffith said he is also trying to catch up on overdue audits – a problem he inherited when he took office in January.