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Luzerne County&rsquo;s 68 elected tax collectors would receive annual pay increases for three years instead of four under a revised proposal.
				The county administration also has released an estimate of what the county would save by switching from elected collectors to in-house collection, although this figure fails to incorporate the additional revenue that the county would receive.
				Council is set to vote on tax collection during its virtual 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday.
				Tax collector changes must be approved before prospective collectors start circulating and filing nomination petitions on Feb. 16 to appear on the May 18 primary election ballot.
				Elected collectors currently receive $2.50 for each paid county tax bill.
				They had requested a 10-cent increase annually when the next term begins in 2022, bringing their per-bill receipt to $2.90 in the fourth year.
				However, a new resolution attached to the meeting agenda removes the raise for 2022 and proposes the following payments per paid bill: $2.60 in 2023, $2.70 in 2024 and $2.80 in 2025.
				The county estimates elected collectors process a combined 103,350 paid county tax bills annually. At the current $2.50, that equates to $258,375 for the elected collectors.
				If a majority approves the new proposal, the total annual compensation would rise to $268,710 in 2023, $279,045 in 2024 and $289,380 in 2025. Over the three years, the raises would cost an additional $62,010 using the county&rsquo;s figure on the number of bills.
				Three of the 11 council members &mdash; Harry Haas, Linda McClosky Houck and Walter Griffith &mdash; have spoken against compensation increases for the elected collectors, with Haas describing the current tax collection system as &ldquo;archaic.&rdquo;
				While weighing the raise request, Griffith said council also should revisit changing to in-house collection of county real estate taxes by the county treasurer&rsquo;s office. Griffith asked the administration to calculate the savings for this option.
				In response, county Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz sent council a report last week estimating in-house collection would cost $522,720, for a savings of $21,751.
				However, this does not include additional revenue the county treasurer&rsquo;s office also would bring in from fees providing copies of duplicate bills and tax certifications to property owners.
				That increased revenue had been estimated at $80,000 annually when the county last considered in-house collection four years ago, in January 2017.
				Griffith said Monday the revenue should have been presented by the administration to provide a more accurate picture of the in-house option.
				Swetz said Monday his office quickly pulled together the estimate in anticipation of the upcoming meeting but is prepared to answer additional questions during Tuesday&rsquo;s discussion, including those about revenue possibilities for in-house collection.
				In his report last week, Swetz told council tax collection would cost the county approximately $544,471 in 2022 under the current elected collector system.
				Because this estimate was prepared before the new proposal, it was based on the possibility of an increased $2.60 payment for elected collectors in 2022.
				As a result, $10,335 must be deducted if the 2022 fee stays at $2.50. This means the overall projected savings for in-house collection would decrease from $21,751 to $11,416 &mdash; again, not counting the additional revenue the county would receive from fees.
				The in-house collection scenario presented by Swetz includes the addition of four staffers in the treasurer&rsquo;s office and a collection office in the Hazleton area.
				The county treasurer&rsquo;s office currently has four staffers involved in collection of county taxes in Newport Township and the county&rsquo;s four cities &mdash; Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke, Hazleton and Pittston. The county also pays three home rule municipalities &mdash; Kingston, Kingston Township and Wilkes-Barre Township &mdash; $1.50 for each county tax bill they collect.
				The remaining municipalities are covered by elected collectors.
				Swetz did not include expenses for the home rule municipalities in his estimate for council.
				At the request of county Manager C. David Pedri, the proposed new agreement with elected collectors requires them to add their deputy tax collector as an alternate signer on their bank account for county tax receipts. In some situations, the county has been unable to obtain payment when elected collectors were incapacitated, Pedri has said.
				The revised proposal contains a to-be-determined penalty that would have to be paid if elected collectors fail to provide a copy of the signature card for their deputy by Feb. 1, 2022.
				Elected collectors have argued they provide valued customer service to many property owners with no health benefits or pensions. Many have informed residents of their eligibility for homestead and property tax rebate programs that they did not know existed, one collector said.
				The county&rsquo;s elected collectors had previously received $3.50 for both paid and unpaid county tax bills but accepted a reduction in exchange for council&rsquo;s halting of a switch to in-house tax collection in January 2014. Their concession agreement resulted in $2 payments for each paid county tax bill in 2014 and 2015 and $2.50 in 2016 and 2017. They also stopped receiving payment for uncollected bills.
				No raises were considered the last time the collector compensation came up in January 2017. Instead, some council members unsuccessfully advocated a pay reduction or in-house collection.
				A link to attend Tuesday&rsquo;s virtual meeting is posted under council&rsquo;s public meetings online section at <a href="https://www.luzernecounty.org/1279/Public-Meetings-Online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">luzernecounty.org</a>.

Proposed Luzerne County tax collector raise package altered