Luzerne County Government

May 13, 2010

County tax office privatized

To boost collections, Northeast Revenue Service takes over tax claim office.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Jennifer Learn-Andes on Facebook   |   @TLJenLearnAndes on Twitter

Luzerne County Tax Claim Office is now officially privatized, the new operator said Wednesday.

Northeast Revenue Service LLC in Wilkes-Barre, which was hired over seven other interested firms on April 14, is settling into the tax claim office on the first floor of the county courthouse and preparing to issue its first round of 15,000 notices to property owners who didn’t pay their 2009 taxes, said company president John Rodgers.

Three of the county’s seven tax claim workers accepted Northeast’s offer of employment: Nadine Emel, Siena Slusser and Mary Gaffney, Rodgers said.

Also, Northeast has hired former Hazleton Area School Board member Sean Shamany to run the office, Rodgers said.

Commissioners say the outsourcing, which has been implemented by only two or three other counties in the state, will cut costs and should boost back-tax collection.

Rodgers said his company has established agreements with Landmark Community Bank branches to accept the payment of back taxes. Northeast is also setting up a credit card payment option, he said.

“Our biggest focus now is to make it easier and more convenient for people to pay,” he said.

A waiting area will be set up inside the courthouse office because Rodgers doesn’t want to make property owners wait in line. Also, property owners will sit with an employee in the office area to pay, rather than standing at a counter, he said.

The upcoming notices on 15,000 properties will contain detailed information on how to pay, Rodgers said.

“Nobody will have the excuse that they couldn’t get to the courthouse or didn’t know how to pay,” he said.

Northeast has agreed to pay the county about $15 per square foot to rent the courthouse office and an additional fee to lease desks and space on the county’s computer server, Rodgers said.

The company’s proposal to run the office also cited other plans to maximize collections, such as utilizing collectors who accept payment by phone and reporting non-payments to the three major credit bureaus if back taxes are not paid within 30 days of the first delinquent notice.

Northeast aims to increase the back-tax collection rate to 90 percent within the first year, compared to rates of 89.7 percent in 2004 and 86.5 percent in 2008, its proposal said. Each percentage point equates to about $862,000, the proposal said.

The company, which submitted a joint proposal with the Wetzel, Caverly, Shea, Phillips & Rodgers law firm, will be paid through a 5 percent penalty already added to overdue taxes. The county will continue receiving its 5 percent penalty on county taxes but will divert the penalty on school and municipal taxes to Northeast instead of keeping it.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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