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<p>The amount Luzerne County pays for tax collection is up for discussion at next week&#8217;s county council meeting.</p><p>Some council members agreed at a recent work session the matter should be addressed because any compensation changes for the county&#8217;s 68 elected tax collectors must be enacted before prospective collectors circulate nomination petitions to appear on the May 16 primary ballot.</p><p>Feb. 14 is the first day to circulate and file nomination petitions, and the council has only two more scheduled meetings before then, on Jan. 24 and Feb. 7, according to online calendars.</p><p>The current county compensation for elected collectors &#8212; $2.50 for each paid bill, nothing for unpaid ones &#8212; is granted through an agreement that expires the end of this year.</p><p>Hanover Township tax collector Mildred Luba, head of the Luzerne County Tax Collectors Association, has speculated this payment would automatically continue if a new agreement is not approved by council.</p><p>But some council members expressed concern the compensation would revert back to the pre-agreement amount &#8212; $3.50 for both paid and unpaid county tax bills &#8212; if they don&#8217;t act now.</p><p>The agreement, approved by a council majority in January 2014, halted a switch to in-house tax collection and the collectors&#8217; court appeal over their elimination.</p><p>Avoiding a compensation decision would be irresponsible, said council Chairwoman Linda McClosky Houck.</p><p>&#8220;I think we need to actually not just let something happen to us. We need to take some action to decide what we want it to be,&#8221; she said.</p><p>McClosky Houck said Monday she will include a discussion about in-house collection at the Jan. 24 council meeting to determine if her colleagues are interested in pursuing that option.</p><p>A revived push to end reliance on elected collectors is not expected to gain traction because a council majority rejected a proposed home rule charter amendment ballot question last year that would have asked voters if they want to switch to in-house tax collection.</p><p>Councilman Rick Williams has requested discussion next week on implementing uniform compensation for all tax collectors, McClosky Houck said.</p><p>Harrisburg-based Public Financial Management&#8217;s 2015 financial recovery plan recommended the county save an estimated $165,000 annually by reducing the compensation for elected collectors to $1.50 per paid bill, which is the amount the county pays three home rule municipalities &#8212; Kingston, Kingston Township and Wilkes-Barre Township &#8212; to collect county taxes.</p><p>The county spends $296,650 on compensation for elected collectors annually, the budget says.</p><p>The county doesn&#8217;t pay outside entities to collect its taxes in the remaining municipalities &#8212; Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke, Hazleton, Pittston and Newport Township &#8212; because the collection is handled in-house by the treasurer&#8217;s office.</p><p>Williams publicly said at the recent work session he believes the payment should be $1.50 per collected bill for all. He was among the council members who had supported the conversion to in-house collection.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s no secret. My sensibility is we need to move to centralized tax collection to be in the 21st Century for all types of reasons. Others may have a different viewpoint,&#8221; Williams said.</p><p>Defenders of elected collectors have maintained property owners appreciate the customer service and local access of the current system.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">McClosky Houck </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_McClosky_Houck-cmyk-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>McClosky Houck </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Compensation for Luzerne County tax collectors to be discussed next week